Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk addresses Covid vaccinations during visit to Hervey Bay

After super weekend in which hundreds of people in the Wide Bay were vaccinated, the Queensland Premier was asked about what it might mean for Christmas holidays during a stopover at a local school.

Vaccinations, Covid cases and the crisis engulfing Hervey Bay Hospital were among the top topics flagged on Monday morning as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk spoke ahead of a Cabinet meeting in the Fraser Coast city.

The premier and a handful of ministers stopped into Hervey Bay High School where they were greeted by the school’s principal and student leaders who gave up part of their school holidays for the opportunity.

After a super vaccine weekend, during which more than 56,000 people (about the equivalent of Hervey Bay’s population) across the state got a jab, Ms Palaszczuk said she was confident Queensland now had an overall vaccination rate of more than 60 per cent.

Asked what that meant for the state’s Christmas celebrations, she maintained a high vaccination rate was vital but wouldn’t be drawn on specific plans.

She also didn’t say whether home quarantine might be an option for those coming into the state from overseas or interstate for the Christmas period.

With two cases detected in hotel quarantine and none in community, Ms Palaszczuk said the focus was now on driving vaccination rates up even higher and preventing an outbreak of the Delta virus that had plagued NSW.

“Can I stress to Queenslanders ‘please continue to get vaccinated’,” she said.

“If you have not been vaccinated, now is the time, so make sure you either ring your local GPs, go to one of our vaccination hubs and of course we have the Moderna coming into the pharmacies as well.”

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“What we’re trying to do here in Queensland is protect our freedoms,” she said.

“In Victoria and New South Wales, they’re trying to get their freedoms back.

“You would have heard Victoria talking about having 30 people for Christmas dinner.

“We have 100 people allowed to come to your homes at the moment here in Queensland.

“We’re about protecting our lifestyle, protecting our freedoms, and that’s why the vaccination is so important.”

Over the weekend 734 were vaccinated in Hervey Bay, 959 in Bundaberg, 246 in Maryborough and 116 people in Childers.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the super weekend was just that.

“Well done to all of our health workers who came out and manned those vaccination hubs on the weekend,” she said.

“Thank you to the public for coming out in huge numbers.

“Because of you, we are seeing huge uptake in our vaccination numbers.”

Ms D’Ath also addressed the crisis at Hervey Bay Hospital, saying she was visiting staff to talk about demand.

She said a priority was finding out about how bed capacity could be improved.