Cairns Covid-19 vaccine pop-up clinic at Bunnings delivers 108 jabs

Long queues in hot weather lined up for a snag and a jab at the Bunnings Smithfield vaccine clinic with a nursing director revealing the hope motivating recipients.

REPORTS of a fainting due to heat were not enough to discourage determined DIY enthusiasts from grabbing a snag and a jab at Bunnings Smithfield on the weekend.

A Queensland Health pop-up Covid-19 vaccine clinic at the hardware retailer on Saturday administered 108 jabs with some recipients choosing to chomp down a sausage on bread while waiting the mandatory 15 minutes post injection.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital Service nursing director Karen Spies said most recipients were first jab receivers and demand was evidently high.

“They were lining up while we were setting up and we were due to finish at 12pm and there was still a line,” she said.

The Queensland Health pop-up Covid-19 vaccination centre at Bunnings Smithfield on Saturday morning. Picture: Emily Barker

Ms Spies said she believed the efforts and costs of setting up and staffing short-term pop-up clinics were worth the results as they were proving favourable with Far Northern residents.

“We work off instructions from the command centre in Brisbane and it looks like we’ll be doing a lot more pop-up clinics.

“We’re looking to get to as many events as possible such as the Tablelands Folk Festival and we’re looking to set up clinics in shopping centres too.”

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the strong response to the Bunnings vaccination hubs came as a surprise and the State Government would consider more pop-up clinics at similar locations.

“We’ve got to think innovatively where we’re going to put these pop-up clinics because just having mass vaccination hubs is not enough,” she said.

Juls Egan from Machans Beach was among those who popped into Bunnings on the weekend for a 'Snag and a Jab' at the Queensland Health pop-up Covid-19 Vaccination centre. Picture: Emily Barker

Ms Spies said residents were telling her they appreciated the convenience of the pop-up clinics and virus complacency was slowly turning into hope, due to talks of border opening dates.

It came as Queensland recorded its 12th consecutive day of no community transmission on Sunday as pressure built on the Palaszczuk government to release the state’s road map out of Covid.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the State Government remained committed to the national plan despite New South Wales “going off the plan”.

Mr Miles said that he had “some confidence” that the state will reach the 80 per cent threshold soon.

He said authorities would give as much notice as they could for when borders were set to reopen.

Originally published as Cairns Covid-19 vaccine pop-up clinic at Bunnings delivers 108 jabs