Inside day-one of Brisbane’s mass Covid-19 vaccination centre

A teenager, a 27-year-old mother and a returned traveller – these were some of the first people to receive their Covid jabs at Queensland’s new mass vaccination centre in Brisbane.

It all starts with one small jab according to 27-year-old mother Whitney McIntosh who was among one of the first to get her jab at Brisbane’s newest mass vaccination hub which opened on Wednesday.

“My kids both have respiratory issues, so it was important to me to get vaccinated. But just as a student and a nurse, it’s the right thing to do,” Ms McIntosh said.

Whitney McIntosh, 27, receives the Pfizer jab from registered nurse Ellen Merkas on the first day of the mass vaccination centre at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Picture: Tara Croser.

Eager Queenslanders started lining up more than 30 minutes early for the opening of the state’s newest mass vaccination hub at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Doors to Hall 4 opened at 8.30am but the line was already winding around the corner well before 8am and 10 minutes before opening stretched back more than 100 metres.

There will be 1500 doses available each day until Friday before spiking to 3000 from Saturday onwards. These jabs will mostly be Pfizer with a small number of AstraZeneca on hand just in case.

This will be a major lifeline to Queensland’s lagging vaccination rollout with the state being ranked second lowest vaccination rate of any jurisdiction in the country with just 22.5 per cent fully vaccinated.

One of the first people in the line to get their shot was Ratchanee Dinning, 50, who just returned from Malaysia where she had to wait six months for the first shot of her vaccine.

“Over there you just take what you can get there’s not much choice,” she said.

It’s a stark contrast to her current situation where her son booked her in on Tuesday morning to receive a Pfizer vaccine the next day.

“It’s so much better having these big vaccination centres,” she said.

Meanwhile, for 14-year-old Indiana Kidd this vaccination hub finally gave her the opportunity to head back to school.

Indiana Kidd, 14, Poppy Kidd, 16, Monica Kidd and Andrew Kidd wait to receive their Covid vaccinations. Picture: Tara Croser.

“She’s got asthma so she’s in the vulnerable group. Once she gets this, she’ll be able to go back to class more comfortably,” mum Monica Kidd said.

The family booked their jab the morning before opening day as soon as it was made available online, but they had been registered for months prior.

And just because she was now eligible, Indiana’s 16-year-old sister Poppy was also able to get her jab.

“I’m just getting it done because I can now. Then our whole family will be covered,” she said.

The hub was fully booked out for the day with 1500 doses divided between the booths inside.

Upon entering the hall, there were rows of vaccination hubs in which only 16 were in use on the first day with others planning to open when the additional supply arrives on the weekend.

People were moved to a closed booth where they received their jab before heading to the waiting area.

People in the waiting area after getting their Pfizer vaccine at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Picture: Sarah Marshall

The waiting area was made up of almost 200 socially distanced chairs where people were required to sit for 15 minutes while nurses monitored their immediate symptoms.

At the back of the hub, the drawing room was where nurses collected the vials from one of the three refrigerators where they were stored throughout the day.

These were then drawn into needles and ferried to the booths by one of the more than 70 staff working at the hub.

Appointments for the hub are generally 10 minutes apart with people being moved into the waiting area, given a lollipop and allowed to leave 15 minutes later.

Bookings have steadily been released by Queensland Health with the wait list now dropping down to 205,000 thanks to the hub.

To put that in perspective, Queensland, through government-run clinics, GPs and pharmacies, administered a record 255,659 jabs last week, a 25 per cent increase on its weekly average of the previous month.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman has told those booked in throughout the week that in order to avoid long lines, people only need to arrive up to 10 minutes prior to their booking.

Claire Greenhalgh, 30, after getting the Pfizer jab. Picture: Croser.

Claire Greenhalgh, 30, was one of the first people to receive her first Pfizer shot at the hub and said she felt “absolutely fine” afterwards.

“I just got it to keep things moving forward and to do my part to reduce my chances of passing it on to family and friends,” she said

Ms Greenhalgh wasn’t in a priority group but registered her interest just over a month ago before receiving her invitation to book an appointment on Tuesday morning.

Registrations put Queenslanders on the waitlist, but they don’t count as an appointment.

As bookings are released by Queensland Health, invitations are sent out to people based on their priority status and the demand in the region.