Gympie residents face three week wait for Covid jabs

Long waits for Covid vaccines are frustrating health professionals and citizens of the Gympie region, with a third of the population yet to receive the booster shot while the worst wave of the virus batters Queensland. Find out why.

Slow supply deliveries and communication shortfalls have been blamed for a vaccine waiting list of up to a month for Gympie region residents, despite Qld being in the grip of the worst Covid wave so far.

A search of the Federal Government’s Covid booking website on Wednesday revealed only one Gympie region clinic, Doctors at Goldfields Plaza, had bookings available in July.

The next earliest booking available was for the morning of Wednesday, August 10, and the earliest after that was August 29.

Several Gympie clinics involved in the vaccine rollout did not have any bookings available online.

A member of the Cooloola Coast general practice said their earliest available booking was Monday August 8, while at the Gympie Clinic it was Thursday, August 18.

This was despite the state being in the midst of a third wave of the virus in which authorities have called for people to take precautions, including wearing masks and social distancing alongside being up-to-date with vaccinations.

Gympie Clinic director Lauren Ranaweera said several issues, including supply timetables, were contributing to Covid vaccination wait times of several weeks at her clinic.

One third of the Gympie region’s eligible population still has not had even one booster shot, despite it having been approved in December 2021.

A second booster (fourth vaccination shot) has since also been approved.

When asked about waiting times across the region on Tuesday a spokesman for the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care said it was “not aware of any concerns regarding vaccine supply or access in Gympie”.

“There are appointments available all week for eligible people to be vaccinated in Gympie,” the spokesman said.

“People can make a Covid-19 appointment using the Covid-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder or by directly contacting any of the 18 sites administer vaccines including 10 GPs, seven pharmacies and one ACHHS (Aboriginal Controlled Community Healthcare Service).

A Federal Health spokesman said the department was unaware of any issues around vaccine supply in Gympie. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

“According to the LGA figures for Gympie, 63.3 per cent of eligible residents have received three or more doses.

“This compares to the eligible coverage in Queensland of 64.1 per cent and 71.1 per cent nationally.”

Speaking with The Gympie Times on Wednesday Gympie Clinic director Lauren Ranaweera said there were “several reasons” behind prolonged wait times at her clinic.

“First and foremost, we need to ensure that we have enough nursing, reception and clinical staff available to run a vaccination clinic based on the demand from the public,” Mrs Ranaweera said.

“This is not always easy to do as the vaccine comes in doses of six, meaning we need to ensure that each vial we open has six patients booked or we run the risk of large amounts of wastage.”

Orders for the vaccine took up to three weeks to arrive, she said, and “the number of vials we can order at a time is not excessive”.

Communication remained a problem, too.

The wait times at Gympie’s vaccination clinics comes in the midst of the worst outbreak of the virus so far, with leaders including Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urging people to take precautions including social distancing and wearing masks. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“When changes to vaccination access occur, (that is) the second booster, we are not given any forewarning and only learn of the updates at the same time as the general public,” Mrs Ranaweera said.

“While we adapt to these changes as quickly as we can we are often slowed down by the supply turnaround as I mentioned before.”

The Gympie Times contacted other clinics but they were unable to provide comment at the time.

A Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service spokeswoman continued to encourage uptake of the vaccine and its boosters.

“Vaccination is the best protection against Covid-19,” she said.

Gympie’s uptake of the third and fourth doses was “good”, she said, but encouraged more residents to do so.

“We know that immunity from vaccination starts to decrease after three months so many people who’ve had their second dose a while ago would now have decreased immunity,” she said.

“If you do test positive for Covid-19, please chat to your GP about accessing antiviral medication.”