Queenslanders need answers and we need them fast

Every word uttered by the Premier, CHO and Health Minister is being scrutinised for what it might mean for the state’s Covid pathway, writes Jessica Marszalek.

It’s a sign of Queenslanders’ thirst for certainty that every word the Premier, chief health officer and Health Minister now utter is being scrutinised for what it might mean for the state’s Covid pathway.

We are living in an information black hole, which is why people were hyperventilating this week when Annastacia Palaszczuk and Yvette D’Ath started saying people had “five or six weeks” to get vaccinated.

Did that mean we were opening then, Queenslanders speculated. Would people be able to see their friends and family for Christmas? Could they come home after being stranded over the border?

Were businesses about to get the certainty they’ve been craving for 18 months?

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young and Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath look on as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks to the media. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

If these continued questions seem tedious, they are. But they’re the stuff of life and still the ones people want answered.

At least Palaszczuk and her squad have started the uncomfortable conversation with an electorate they’ve constantly promised to keep safe about what is about to happen.

“We are all going to end up being infected with Covid, every single person in Queensland,” Dr Jeannette Young said on Friday. That’s why you need to get vaccinated.

But big questions remain and the government doesn't seem in a rush to give answers.

Asked at her only press conference this week whether the low jab rates in the regions could hold back plans to reopen the borders, Palaszczuk’s answer was: “We’ll talk about that later.” With that kind of urgency, it’s no wonder so many people haven’t gotten around to protecting themselves.