COVID vaccine hubs not an option until later in 2021, state government says

The federal government says there is enough COVID-19 vaccine supply for Queensland to open hubs but our health minister says they won’t even consider them until ‘later’ in 2021.

There is enough vaccine supply in Australia right now for Queensland to open mass vaccination hubs according to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.

Mr Hunt was speaking after it was revealed the state government won’t consider the facilities until “later” in 2021.

Asked about Queensland’s decision not to open a mass vaccination hub until “later” in the year due to supposed supply issues, Mr Hunt said there was “plenty of supply for all states”.

“These are choices for states. Some states have scaled back their ordering and if they wish to renew their ordering, we would be very, very happy to do that,” he said.

“We are in a strong situation with regards to supply now.”

Mr Hunt made the comments while announcing Australia’s landmark deal to obtain 25m jabs and booster shots in late-2021 and into 2022 from vaccine producer Moderna.

The Federal Budget announced this week included $510.8m over two years for the states and territories to administer COVID-19 vaccines and a commitment from the Commonwealth to fork out 50 per cent of costs incurred by states to set up additional COVID-19 vaccination sites — including mass vaccination hubs.

Mass vaccination hubs set up in New South Wales and Victoria have seen a surge in the number of coronavirus jabs put into arms.

State-run clinics in NSW and Victoria administered 6492 and 8281 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours to Wednesday respectively, while Queensland managed just 2444 doses.

But Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath indicated the State Government will not consider mass vaccination hubs until “large volumes of vaccine” are available later this year — in reference to the 20m Pfizer doses expected to arrive in Australia in the last quarter of 2021.

“We want to see more details of the Commonwealth proposal to stand up mass vaccination hubs,” she said.

“As a highly decentralised state our focus is on taking the vaccine to people in their own communities, where it’s best administered.”

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath during a media conference, Parliament House, Brisbane. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates slammed Ms D’Ath for being “either too arrogant or incompetent” to work with the Commonwealth on mass vaccination hubs despite the cash incentive on offer.

Analysis of Commonwealth vaccine data revealed Queensland’s state-run clinics aren’t in short supply of jab doses, with 62 per cent used compared to Victoria’s 71 per cent and 77 per cent in New South Wales.

Queensland’s vaccine dose utilisation rate has also dropped since data first became available a month ago, with state-run clinics using up 70 per cent of jab supply in the week of April 18.

The federal government has repeatedly told the state government they don’t need to stockpile vaccines as contingency for second jabs have already been set aside at the Melbourne-based operation centre.

People are seen queuing to enter a mass COVID-19 vaccination hub on May 10, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. The mass vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park is equipped to administer 30,000 vaccine doses a week or around 5,000 vaccinations per day. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

UNSW infectious disease expert Prof Raina MacIntyre said mass vaccination hubs would “help everywhere” and could benefit rural Queensland — where there may not be GPs — if big jab sites are set up in regional towns.

“If we are aiming to get as many people vaccinated as possible … hubs improve the ability to do that.”

It comes as federal government ministers on Wednesday defended the nation’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout program, amid the ongoing lack of timelines on when all Australians were expected to be vaccinated.

The Budget included an assumption that “population-wide vaccination program is likely to be in place by the end of 2021”.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the goal was to “ensure that the whole of population has the opportunity through supply to access a vaccine this year”.