WATCH: New multilingual ad to get Queenslanders vaccinated

The state government’s level of urgency in getting Queenslanders to get vaccinated has ramped up significantly over fears the “magic window” could close any moment, and it’s being backed by a new multilingual campaign. WATCH THE VIDEO

A multilingual advertising campaign to encourage more Queenslanders to come forward and get vaccinated is being launched to help hasten the state’s vaccination rollout.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced another day of zero cases and urged people to come forward now to make most of the “magical window” the state has to safely protect themselves against Covid before the next outbreak.

The urgency came as Gold Coast workers complained they were being forced to hurriedly get the jab after the Palaszczuk Government made it mandatory from Friday for all essential workers to have had at least one dose of the vaccine if they want to cross the border into Queensland

Dozens of angry southern Gold Coast business owners rallied to protest the rule and the ghost town their area has become since the border slammed shut, the Premier warned the situation would be worse if the Gold Coast was forced into a lockdown due to a case crossing over.

“It only takes one person with that virus to bring it into Queensland and then all bets are off,” she said.

Meanwhile, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has rejected Queensland’s plea to move the border bubble, leaving tens of thousands of residents, businesses and cross-border workers facing ongoing turmoil.

Ms Palaszczuk had asked the besieged leader to shift the border zone south to quarantine northern NSW – which has been free of local Covid cases – from the rest of the virus-ravaged state.

“We tried – we tried to keep our border communities together,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“We acknowledge these areas are part of NSW and NSW has introduced a lockdown for the whole of the state. This must be enforced.

“We tried to find a practical solution but unfortunately NSW said ‘no’.”

The Queensland Government has released a new ad to get more people vaccinated.

It came as the Premier’s social media team began filming videos with leaders from Indigenous, Pakistani, Lebanese, Cambodian, Samoan, Maori, Congolese, Eritrean and Burundian communities who ask their communities to get the jab to protect their families and friends.

The campaign follows calls for Queensland authorities to do more to increase the numbers of people inoculated and is a concerted push to raise low vaccination levels between the Gold Coast and Logan, and around Caboolture.

“We’ve seen in parts of Melbourne and of course Sydney where there have been some slow uptake from our multicultural communities getting vaccinated,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Well, we’re going to make sure that definitely does not happen here in Queensland … and through our leaders were are going to be through social media and through the television and radio and paper networks, we are going to do a great campaign to get every Queenslander vaccinated.”

The Queensland Government has released a new ad to get more people vaccinated.

Ms Palaszczuk said while she wasn’t considering 24-hour hubs while supply was capped, she would look at opening up school halls, community centres, and mobile vans once the supply increased.

“For us to do that we need the supply,” she said.

“We have the capacity to ramp up – but we need the additional supply from the Federal Government.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath asked people to lean on their family and friends and ask them why they weren’t vaccinated yet if they had not had a jab.

Pregnant women were also urged to come forward to protect themselves and their babies as international research shows they are more likely to become sicker from Covid than other women the same age.

The Queensland Government has released a new ad to get more people vaccinated.

Tackling the vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women, Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said while initial advice had been for pregnant women not to get the jab, international trials were now complete and a large number of pregnant women had now been safely vaccinated with no issues.

“That advice has totally changed, totally flipped on its head,” Dr Young said.

“Now they are an absolute priority group.

“So if you’re planning pregnancy, if you’re breastfeeding, if you’re pregnant, doesn’t matter, please get vaccinated because it will not only protect you because you’re immunocompromised, it will protect your baby.”

The Queensland Government has released a new ad to get more people vaccinated.