Queensland LGAs among worst in Australia for Covid-19 jab take up
New data has revealed the pockets of Queensland with exceptionally low Covid vaccination rates, exposing communities to the dire impacts of the virus. SEE THE FULL LIST
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Nearly half of Australia’s most Covid-exposed council areas are in Queensland new data has revealed, as the impact of the state’s lethargic jab uptake is laid bare.
As the coronavirus-ravaged states of NSW and Victoria race ahead on vaccinating its residents, Queensland has the lowest first dose vaccination rate (53.3 per cent) of any jurisdiction and is now lagging behind Western Australia (53.7 per cent).
But new local government area data shows some pockets are more disadvantaged than others, with exceptionally low jab rates exposing people in those communities to the dire impacts of Covid-19 should it surface.
The Aboriginal communities of Cherbourg and Yarrabah are ranked last and third last among published LGAs in Queensland, and are in the bottom five nationally with just 19.7 per cent and 26 per cent of the population aged 15 and up having at least one jab.
Of the 20 least protected LGAs in the country, nine are in Queensland including; Gladstone, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Whitsunday, Charters Towers, Central Highlands, Yarrabah, Isaac, and Cherbourg.
The most protected LGA in Queensland is Goondiwindi at 76.7 per cent of the population aged 15 and up having at least one jab, sharing the same level of protection against Covid-19 as hard hit NSW council areas like Canterbury-Bankstown and Fairfield.
The second most protected LGA in Queensland is Hinchinbrook followed by Noosa, Maranoa and the Southern Downs.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Queensland and WA needed to “really push the vaccination program” for “their own safety, their own sake”.
He implied Queensland’s jab program was lethargic because the state government and the Premier had “unfortunately” been “somewhat cooler on AstraZeneca” — the jab that had formed the backbone of Britain’s vaccination program.
Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has in recent days called for people to book in for a Pfizer jab with their GP, claiming on Monday that GP clinics weren’t using all the Pfizer they were being given.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Queensland chair Dr Bruce Willett refuted the claim, saying there was “certainly not an excess of supply of Pfizer yet”.
He said supply had been an issue but the situation was expected to change in the next fortnight, with an increase in Pfizer stocks allowing the number of GP clinics giving the jab in Queensland to double from 341 to nearly 700.
Each clinic will be allocated an average of 300 doses a week.
Some pharmacists in Queensland are also set to offer the Moderna jab — which uses the same mRNA technology as Pfizer — from around September 20 in addition to the AstraZeneca vaccines they already have on hand.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed the government had concerns particularly around the densely populated neighbourhoods of Logan, Caboolture, Brisbane’s north and Ipswich.
“We’ve addressed those issues by making sure that we are establishing vaccination hubs in those areas,” she said.
“I look at those figures every week, and we are going through and prioritising where our communities aren’t up to the 50 per cent and we are trying to make sure that we are giving a very clear message.
“I want to see all of Queensland move at the same level.”
Alongside new state-run mass vaccination centres opening at Boondall in Brisbane’s north and in Cairns this week, a mobile vaccination van will also continue targeting southeast regions with low uptake.
Queensland Health has confirmed the Boondall hub will open seven days a week from 8.30am to 4.30pm but there will be no walk-in days for the general public yet.
WALK-INS A POPULAR CHOICE IN LOGAN
Hundreds of Logan residents took up the chance to get vaccinated at walk-in clinics across the region, with long lines not dissuading them in light of recent fears of a Covid outbreak.
The Logan Entertainment Centre, the Queensland government’s second largest vaccine hub, opened on Sunday and Monday for walk-ins and will do so again next week.
The Premier has recently made a call-out to the Logan region to boost vaccination rates following revelations it had among the lowest rates in the country.
Targeting regions with low vaccine rates is on the back of a push last month by Queensland authorities to ramp-up multicultural messaging to linguistically diverse communities.
Logan mum Tia-Moana Seumanutafa, 22, attended the Logan Entertainment Centre with her husband and brother on Monday morning to get their first jab.
“After a conversation with my midwife, she encouraged me to get the vaccine, now we know it was safe to do so and that it’s good for my baby,” Ms Seumanutafa said.
Almost 900 people received a walk-in vaccination on Sunday and that figure was expected to exceed 100 on Monday.
Walk-ins are available again Sunday and Monday.
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