The exact number of jabs per day Qld needs to reach 80 per cent

The number of people getting their first Covid-19 jab each day in Queensland will need to rapidly grow if the state is to hit the 80 per cent milestone by mid-December.

The number of people getting their first Covid-19 jab each day in Queensland’s least protected regions will need to treble or quadruple in order to hit the 80 per cent milestone by mid-December, data has revealed.

Queensland’s daily first jab rate has also failed to lift in the last few days despite the state government’s regional vaccination blitz, trailing to an average of 14,500 newly jabbed people a day.

The state now has just seven days left to make sure enough people get their first jab so there’s enough time to hit the 80 per cent fully protected mark by mid-December — a feat that would involve 30,400 people a day rolling up their sleeve for the initial dose.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk took the government’s “vax-a-thon” to Logan on Friday, with the community’s vaccination rates trailing the state average by nearly 10 per cent.

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young getting vaccination rates up will be critical, indicating lockdowns may no longer be in play.

Analysis by the Courier-Mail of LGA data released earlier this week showed the number of people getting jabbed for the first time each day in Logan would need to have trebled since the Premier’s announcement in order to hit the roadmap deadline of December 17.

Daily jab rates in the Whitsundays and in Mackay would also needed to be tripled to hit 414 and 1100 newly jabbed people a day.

In Gladstone and Rockhampton the number of people showing up for their first jab each day would need to quadruple, from about 200 a day to 800.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said he was confident the north Queensland community would be “very close” to having 80 per cent of people double doses by December 17, and that those still hesitant to get the jab were “genuinely scared”.

“And I tell them that there are 90,000 people in Mackay walking around with at least one jab and we’re still upright, we’re still going to work every day,” he said.

Ms Palaszczuk, writing for the Courier-Mail today, said Queensland had “won every battle against Covid so far” but the only way to “win the war” was to get vaccianted.

She said on Friday there was “no excuse” for people not to get the jab, with more than a 100 pop-up clinics to open inside state schools on the weekend in a “Super Saturday” vaccination blitz.

“There’s a lot of places to get your vaccine, there’s ample supply, and time is of the essence,” she said.

Queensland recorded no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 despite an alleged rule-breaking Uber driver on the Gold Coast spending ten days in the community while infectious.

Police are investigating whether the man, identified as Duran Raman, 36, entered Queensland illegally after being refused entry at the border.

He remained seriously ill at Gold Coast University Hospital after testing positive earlier this week following a visit to Melbourne.

Dr Young said it was likely Mr Raman would be transferred to intensive care.

Only 6330 Covid-19 swabs were done on Thursday — one of the lowest daily testing rates in the last three months.

Even if Covid-19 starts to spread, Dr Young indicated lockdowns were a thing of the past, describing it as a “blunt tool”.

“We don’t intend going forward to do that … that is why we every single person needs to get vaccinated,” she said.

“Isolating people, requiring people to stay in their homes are very, very blunt tools, the vaccine is a far better tool, and we have it and we have it throughout our state.”

Five Covid-19 cases were detected in hotel quarantine in Queensland on Friday.

A total of 74.1 per cent of Queenslanders have received at least one jab and 59.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Stephanie Tran is a double vaccinated Logan resident. Picture, John Gass

LOGAN

Logan continues to have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, despite being home to one of the largest vaccinationhubs at the Logan Entertainment Centre.

Stephanie Tran from Marsden, 16, just got her second shot of Pfizer and said she can’t wait for more Logan residents to joinher.

“I feel free and like I can finally walk around Logan and not worry as much as before,” Miss Tran said.

“It’s been such a big worry for me especially with it going on for nearly two years now. It’s crazy that it’s kept us in doorsfor so long and kept us from having a social life.

“Now I finally feel like I can breathe and like things are looking up with being vaccinated.”

Miss Tran said she would feel even more relieved if more Logan locals joined her.

“Please go and get vaccinated,” she said.

“I’m sure we’d all feel so much safer if Logan was able to bring up its vaccination rate.”

Sobna Singh, from Kingston, said she would sleep better at night once more Logan locals had received their second dose ofthe Pfizer vaccine.

“I’m a school officer at St Pauls Primary School and I’d love it if more people were vaccinated,” she said.

“Most at school are vaccinated but still more people need to get theirs.

“It’s very important we get our rates up.”

Shiela Delosreyes, from Rochedale South, also just had her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

“I feel normal and no soreness which is great,” she said.

“I’m so excited to be able to go out more confidently now.

“More people need to get it. It’s a good thing for the community.”

Annica Henkel from Metro South Health, who is the administration lead of the vaccination process at the Logan EntertainmentCentre, said she is unsure as to why rates are so low in the area.

“We’ve been open here for scheduled appointments and walk-in appointments since July 6. We started off really strong but haveslowed down a little this past month,” she said.

“We’re trying to really get the community involved and excited to come down and get vaccinated before Christmas and beforeborders open up.”

Late last week the Logan Entertainment Centre hit its 100,000 vaccination mark which was a win for the area.

“It’s a massive milestone for Logan,” she said.

“Please come down and get vaccinated. There’s no wait time.”

Ashleigh Marshall from Airlie Beach is fully vaccinated.

WHITSUNDAYS

Fully-vaccinated Airlie Beach resident Ashleigh Marshall, 34, encouraged her Whitsunday neighbours to roll up their sleevesto give the region its best chance at returning to its former glory as a thriving tourist destination.

Ms Marshall, 34, received her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine a couple of weeks ago, motivated by the belief that it wasthe right thing to do in a community where “you never know who’s vulnerable”.

“As soon as I was able to, I pre-registered - I was very keen to do it,” Ms Marshall said.

“I just read the science and for me it was just the best thing to do, just for the greater good.”

For anyone still ‘on the fence’, Ms Marshall’s advice was to “do your homework and ensure who you’re listening to is actuallyqualified”.

“I think a lot of fake news is out there and a lot of conspiracy theories that don’t have any backing with what’s been researched,” she said.

“Being in a touristy place, you’d want people to be comfortable coming here knowing everyone’s vaccinated as they would be.”

MACKAY

Dreams of travelling out of Queensland have spurred Ooralea mother Lynda Helsham’s family to get the Covid-19 vaccine jab.

Mrs Helsham was accompanying her two sons, 16-year-old Riley and 20-year-old Cooper, for their first Pfizer shots, at MackayShowgrounds’ vaccination hub on October 21.

“I am double-vaccinated. I had AstraZeneca and I feel fine,” Mrs Helsham said.

“I want to travel again. I’ve been everywhere in Queensland.”

Riley (who was on a pupil-free day from St Patrick’s College) and Cooper said they were “feeling fine” after their first shots.

Mrs Helsham said she didn’t think Mackay had been avoiding vaccinations, rather that because Covid had barely touched theregion, it wasn’t front of mind.

ROCKHAMPTON

Carpenter Roarke Christensen had his first jab at the Rockhampton Covid vaccination centre on October 21.

The 23-year-old said he came to get the vaccination because “everybody needs to get it.”

“The quicker we get it done, the quicker we can get back to our normal lives,” he said.

Mr Christensen said he thought others should get the Covid vaccinations because “everyone needs to be in it together.”

“We all need to move forward as one, and getting back to our normal lives is the main thing.”

When Mr Christensen was asked if he was worried about Covid in Central Queensland if not enough people were vaccinated beforeState borders re-opened, he replied: “Absolutely.”

“If not everyone’s vaccinated and it (Covid) gets up here, I’m sure it will cause some problems.

“So everyone should get vaccinated I think, and it (jab) doesn’t hurt at all.”

Mr Christensen said he mainly worked in Rockhampton but he also travelled a bit to the Central Highlands and Burnett areasfor jobs at places including mine sites.

GLADSTONE

Gladstone local Emma Graham got her first shot on Tuesday, October 19.

She said she got the shot just to be safe because the virus is spreading everywhere now.

“I felt nothing, I didn’t even feel the needle,” she said.

Her daughter has been stuck in Pennsylvania during the pandemic and she’s been looking forward to her family finally beingreunited.

She said it was a ‘horrible’ and ‘scary’ situation.

“She wants to come back and I want her to come back,” Emma said.

Her experience getting the vaccination didn’t have any problems and she was able to get it yesterday when she first wantedit.

She said some Gladstone people might think ‘it’s not up here so...’ but there’s many people coming in and out with industriesso if people get vaccinated there won’t be issues.

But she’s not too worried if everyone in the community doesn’t get it.