Qld coronavirus: Brisbane to get second mass vaccination hub

A second mass vaccination hub will open in Brisbane next week in a bid to help fast-track Queensland's lagging rollout with as many 3000 jabs to be delivered every day.

A mass-vaccination hub will open on Brisbane’s northside to supercharge the state’s lagging rollout as authorities admit they don’t know when Queensland will reach the 80 per cent coverage milestone.

It comes as Queensland records no new local Covid cases in the past 24 hours, with two overseas acquired cases detected in hotel quarantine.

Brisbane Entertainment Centre will open as a vaccine hub from September 8 as growing supplies of Pfizer and the expected introduction of the Moderna vaccine fast-track the rollout.

The mass-vaccination site will initially take 1500 bookings each day before ramping up to 3000 as more supply arrives.

While bookings will be essential during the first weeks of operation, there will also be walk-in days where people won’t need an appointment to get vaccinated.

It comes as 49.4 per cent of Queenslanders have had their first Covid-19 jab and 30.7 per cent are fully vaccinated.

However, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state government was unsure when Queensland would reach 80 per cent vaccine coverage – the critical milestone where lockdowns and border closures could be a thing of the past.

“We’re doing some forecasting and modelling now and it depends on supply,” she said.

“If the federal government gives us supply we’ll put the supply in people’s arms.”

Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland’s vaccine rate – which is Australia’s second slowest ahead of only Western Australia – relied on frequent supply of Pfizer and the Commonwealth’s approval and distribution of Moderna.

“As soon as we get all those facts and figures we’ll get it out,” she said.

Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk talks to media with chief health officer Jeannette Young. Picture: Peter Wallis

Ms Palaszczuk said she was “very encouraged” by Queensland’s vaccination rate despite the state having four of Australia’s 10 local council areas with the lowest number of people jabbed.

She said Deputy Premier Steven Miles would hold another teleconference with regional Queensland mayors to stress the importance of getting a jab.

“We want to see the vaccination rates lift simultaneously around the state but we recognise we are the most decentralised state,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“It is a race and every single day that we don’t have Delta in our state is a day that you can go and get vaccinated … every single day is critical.”

Queensland Disaster Commissioner Steve Gollschewski is also in talks with the New South Wales border commissioner about introducing a bubble to improve the management of movement people living at the Tweed.

New South Wales has repeatedly denied Queensland’s push to relocate the border checkpoints to the Tweed River, however Ms Palaszczuk said the government was “trying everything we possibly can” to make them reconsider.

“We’ve extended the olive branch and we’ll hand it over to New South Wales now to see if they’ll come to the party,” she said.

“It’s having an impact on family’s lives.

The mass vaccination hub at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

Ms Palaszczuk said she had “tried my hardest” for a solution, but blamed New South Wales for the delay in finding an agreement.

“I don’t want to get into an argy-bargy here, let’s get this sorted,” she said.

I know New South Wales is really busy … let’s work together and get it done.

“We’ve sent one of our best in, everyone knows how good our Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski is – if anyone can get it done Steve can.”

Queensland recorded one new case of community transmission related to the Indooroopilly cluster, however they were in home quarantine during their infectious period.

Every person in the family has tested positive for Covid-19, and they have been in quarantine since last month.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young warned Queenslanders to brace for more Covid-19 outbreaks and called for people to urgently get the jab.

“I know there’s a target of 80 per cent out there, I’d like to see 95 per cent of course but anything is excellent above that 80 per cent target,” she said.

Dr Young said the Brisbane Entertainment Centre was chosen as the state’s latest mass vaccination hub due to its ample parking and space for people to be monitored.

“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve had very few people have adverse reactions to the vaccine but where it has occurred it’s been managed beautifully,” she said.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the Brisbane Entertainment Centre hub would lift the state’s “sluggish vaccination rate” but called on the Premier to reveal the plan to reopen Queensland when vaccinations reach the 70 and 80 per cent targets.