Gympie Covid vaccination numbers hard to obtain

Accurate vaccination data for the Gympie region is proving impossible to get, but it does appear the uptake is gaining pace.

As Queensland battles the Delta variant our state is sitting second last for vaccination rates in the country.

About 19 per cent of eligible Queenslanders are fully vaccinated, but Gympie vaccine uptake is still comparably low with available data revealing at least 5200 vaccinations have been delivered in the region since the rollout began.

Accurate vaccination data is hard to get.

The Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service, which includes Gympie, has so far delivered 86,303 vaccinations according to state government figures.

Twenty medical clinics and pharmacies across the region stock and administer Covid vaccines, but only six of those would reveal the number of vaccines they had delivered to-date.

Cooloola Coast General Practice Cooloola Cove recorded 1811 jabs, Southside Medical Centre 1400 jabs, Cooloola Pharmacy 200 and Rainbow Beach Pharmacy 25 vaccines.

The Gympie Civic Centre vaccination hub has delivered 1250 doses since it opened and the Gympie Hospital has given out 528.

Priceline Pharmacy in Gympie Central Shopping Centre began administering vaccines on Wednesday and said they had 100 doses of AstraZeneca ready to go.

Some vaccination sites in the region said they had experienced an upturn in the number of people getting vaccinated since the South East Queensland outbreak.

Cooloola Pharmacy general manager James Lester said the pharmacy was flooded with calls on Monday morning.

Eyewitness reveals what went down at Teewah ‘doof party’

60+ diseased pets found in filth and neglect north of Gympie

Road to close for two months as Gympie Bypass works ramp up

“We’ve been offering the vaccine for about six weeks now, but with everything going on in Brisbane, we’ve seen a big uptick,” he said.

The Gympie Clinic could not confirm how many vaccines it had delivered, but Dr Stuart Cooper from the practice said it was important to get vaccinated.

“The overall evidence suggests that the Covid vaccine saves lives,” he said.

“For most people, the benefits are extremely high and the overall risks are very low, so just get vaccinated.”

Dr Stuart Cooper at the Gympie Clinic.

Symptoms of Covid-19 can include fever, coughing, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of smell or taste and a runny nose.

If you have any of these symptoms, no matter how mild, call your doctor or 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) and get tested.