Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warns about five-month wait for Covid-19 vaccine

One Aussie state is facing a five-month wait for those registered for the vaccine to be able to get it, as the nation fights off a new Covid outbreak.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned nearly 140,000 Queenslanders may have to wait up to five-months before they receive their Covid-19 vaccination.

Registrations for the Pfizer jab soared as the country fell into a virus crisis across four states last week, but supply issues mean many residents eager to be protected from the virus face a long wait.

“We have 139,875 Queenslanders who have registered to get the Pfizer vaccine,” the Premier told reporters on Monday morning.

“What I want to say to those people out there is you will be given a booking, but the booking may not be until October or November because that is when all the supply comes in from the Federal government.

“I just need everyone to be patient and if we do get extra supply in, Queensland Health will contact you and we will be able to move your appointment forward.”

Queenslanders face a long wait for the jab. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The concerning update comes after the Prime Minister revealed a new road map on Friday to cut the need for lockdowns and open up the country in 2022 based on a significant uptake of vaccinations.

This plan is based on a yet-to-be revealed threshold of jabs being administered but Ms Palaszczuk’s update details a significant supply shortfall particularly given Queensland Health’s strong preference for those under 60 to avoid the AstraZeneca vaccine.

More than 92,000 Queenslanders were vaccinated in the seven days prior to Monday.

“We can see that Queensland Health can do nearly 100,000 vaccines a week which is great news but the supply into the future before that big dose of supply comes in October is around 65,000 a week,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“The Commonwealth has started some of the GP networks with the Pfizer as well today. Our aim is to get everyone vaccinated safely and as quickly as possible but that depends on supply.”

Queensland recorded four new locally acquired cases on Monday but the Premier said all were linked to current clusters.

Originally published as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warns about five-month wait for Covid-19 vaccine