Qld’s lagging vaccination rate could delay international flights

Queensland’s vaccination rate is lagging so far behind the rest of the country there are fears international travel to the state could be delayed. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Queensland’s vaccination rate is lagging so far behind the rest of the country there are fears international travel to the state could be delayed up to 12 months.

New figures from the state’s “Super Saturday” vaccination weekend revealed that 28,000 people received a vaccination.

However only 11,574 of those were first doses, well behind the 30,284 needed every day between now and Friday in order to hit the 80 per cent full vaccination target on December 17, when interstate borders will reopen.

Analysis by The Courier-Mail shows that on the current trajectory the state will only by 77.47 per cent vaccinated by the 17th.

Based on current rates Queensland will hit its 90 per cent target – when vaccinated inbound international travellers can avoid any quarantine – in January.

Walk-ins at the Covid-19 Vaccination clinic at Doomben racecourse in Brisbane. Picture: Richard Walker

But tourism heavyweight Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner was sceptical of hitting that target by then.

“Queensland may not get to 90 per cent for six to 12 months,” the Flight Centre boss said.

“Airlines like Qantas are not going to fly into Queensland without certainty, so it could be six to 12 months before Qantas comes back in Queensland flying overseas.”

Mr Turner said there were around 10,000-15,000 Queenslanders overseas who were trying to get back home but the last thing people wanted to do over Christmas was spend two weeks in quarantine.

“These are Queenslanders who have the exact same status as someone coming from Melbourne or Sydney, they’re Queenslanders, they’ve been doubly vaccinated, they’ve had a negative test, it is totally illogical,” Mr Turner said

He also said it might be time the government looked at mandating vaccinations for a larger section of the community to push vax rates up.

“But if they have to do that it is a worry. In the end these communities have to accept that many of their vulnerable people could die if not vaccinated and it is, at least partly, their community leaders’ responsibility,” he said.

Skroo Turner says the State Government should consider widening vaccine mandates. Picture: Annette Dew

It comes as Deputy Premier Steven Miles yesterday reiterated his government’s stance that Queenslanders returning from overseas would still be forced into quarantine until the state reached 90 per cent. This is despite other states allowing fully vaccinated overseas arrivals to skip quarantine once an 80 per cent target is reached.

“We have outlined our road map, it’s very clear, at what threshold people can return and when they will and will not be required to quarantine and we intend to stick to that road map,” he said

While experts believe Queensland will eventually hit the 90 per cent target many fear it will take skyrocketing case numbers to get complacent people into gear.

One of the country’s leading infectious disease experts, Professor Robert Booy, said Queensland actually needed to do better than NSW or Victoria.

“Queensland isn’t just 20 per cent behind it is more like 30 per cent behind because five to 10 per cent of people got immunity from national infection in New South Wales and Victoria,” he said.

“It’s feasible to hit 90 per cent but it’ll be harder to get there than either Victoria or New South Wales where everybody knows someone who got very sick.”

Immunologist and emeritus professor of medicine at UNSW Professor John Dwyer said an 80 per cent threshold for overseas arrivals was sensible.

“Logically there is no difference (between domestic and international arrivals) many of these people have had Pfizer just like people in New South Wales and they’ll provide a negative PCR test,” he said.

Infection prevention expert Professor Thea van de Mortel from Griffith’s School of Nursing and Midwifery said it was the disastrous outbreaks that led to high levels of vaccination interstate and that Queenslanders would follow suit once the virus infiltrated the community.

“I do think once the case load gets higher you’ll see an upswing and there may be pockets of resistance that never get to where you want them to go, but I do believe that people will become sensible once they see the risk being high to themselves,” she said.

In its latest attempt to address the dwindling rates the government announced yesterday that pop-up clinics would be set up for the People’s Long Weekend at key tourism hot spots.

Movie World, Sea World, Dream World, Aussie World, Australia Zoo and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary will be handing out jabs from Friday 29 October to Sunday 31 October, while more than 20 Surf Life Saving Clubs from Cairns to Coolangatta will also have clinics operating over the weekend.