REVEALED: One million to be exposed to Covid when border opens

Almost one million Queenslanders will be exposed to Covid-19 when borders open in less than seven weeks, new figures show. SEE LATEST JAB RATES

Almost one million Queenslanders will be exposed to Covid-19 when borders open in less than seven weeks as the state falls short of its self-imposed 80 per cent vaccinated deadline.

New government vaccine data also shows just 11 local government areas are on track to meet the December 17 jab milestone of 80 per cent protection.

But regional Queenslanders stuck interstate have been granted a small reprieve, with Health Minister Yvette D’Ath confirming they will be able to go into home quarantine when the state hits the November 19 milestone.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Picture: John Gass

The lacklustre vaccination rates comes as the state government refuses to budge from its decision to reopen to international arrivals only when 90 per cent of adult Queenslanders are vaccinated.

The Palaszczuk government had over the past fortnight pushed Queenslanders to get their first jab by Sunday or be left unprotected when the state’s borders reopened on December 17.

But since the road map was released two weeks ago, the number of Queenslanders that have received at least one dose of the vaccine had risen just 5 percentage points to 77.83 per cent.

This leaves 911,728 Queenslanders aged 16 and older that are yet to get even one dose of the vaccine.

Ms D’Ath said the message remained “simple” — that people needed to get the jab, immediately.

“The borders are opening the virus will come in, get vaccinated now,” she said.

There are also just 11 council areas, out of 40 with available data, which are on track to have 80 per cent of the population protected by mid-December.

This includes Goondiwindi, the only place in Queensland where single-dose vaccination rates have surpassed 90 per cent.

Other LGAs that have hit 80 per cent are Brisbane, Bundaberg, Hinchinbrook, Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Redland, Moreton Bay, Fraser Coast, and the Southern Downs.

The Aboriginal communities of Yarrabah, in the state’s far north, and Cherbourg, still have single dose jab rates below 50 per cent — though significant progress has been made in the last week.

Ms D’Ath also signalled the state was sticking to its decision not to open up to quarantine-free international travel until 90 per cent of people are vaccinated in order to stagger the burden on the hospital system.

The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition centre vaccination hub on Monday. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

“Even at the 80 per cent mark, that still means 20 per cent of our population 16-plus could end up getting this virus and end up seriously ill, now that’s a huge burden on the hospital system,” she said.

“We do need to make sure that we are managing our way (through this) … other states Victoria, New South Wales, have been in a very, very different position to the other states and territories that haven’t had major outbreaks and aren’t living with a major outbreaks now.

“It’s in effect a bit simpler when you’ve got 1500 plus cases every day to say well, it’s okay for people from overseas to come in with a virus because we’ve already got this virus spreading throughout our community.”

International arrivals will be able to come into Queensland and quarantine at home from December 17, though at this stage the length of time remains 14 days, despite other states like South Australia reducing the isolation period to just one week.

Ms D’Ath said Queensland would consider shortening the quarantine period to seven days if the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee provided health advice to warrant it.

She also confirmed that from November 19, when Queenslanders stuck in interstate hot spots are allowed to fly back into the state, people will be allowed to transit through Brisbane Airport to their regional base in order to undertake home quarantine.

Queensland recorded no new local cases of Covid-19 and one new infection in hotel quarantine, in a man who had travelled from the Ukraine and transited via Doha.