Ipswich Covid vaccine clinic opens in Nicholas St mall

See inside the new Covid clinic built in a vacant CBD shop in just five days. Up to 1000 patients at day can be vaccinated, find out how.

A new vaccine clinic set to open in Ipswich on Tuesday morning will allow health authorities to administer up to 1000 Covid-19 shots a day by the time it kicks into full swing.

Set up in the past five weeks to replace the existing vaccination centre at Cribb House Ipswich Hospital, the new clinic is in the Nicholas St mall where Harvey Norman used to be located.

Covering about 2000 sqm, it has three lanes for vaccine recipients to queue in, with 10 cubicles in each lane – making a total of 30.

The new clinic will only open 12 of these vaccination ‘pods’ initially, aiming to administer about 600 shots per day until it starts to get its procedures settled.

Eventually it will open all 30 pods and administer about 1000 injections a day, dependent on the availability of the vaccines.

To put that into perspective, the existing vaccine clinic at Cribb House only has eight pods and can deliver up to 700 doses on a big day, and 3-400 on an average day.

West Moreton Health Chief Operating Officer Matthew Tallis said the new clinic will operate Monday to Saturday.

“We’re currently prioritising Phase 1a and 1b workers and anyone who is due to receive their second Pfizer dose,” Mr Tallis said.

The clinic also features a dedicated call centre to handle questions from the public on vaccine eligibility, which has proven a big drain on the state’s resources to date.

Queensland Health deals with tens of thousands of calls a day from people wanting to know where and when they can get the Covid jab.

As of Monday, more than 21,000 people had received their first Covid needle at West Moreton Health’s facilities.

That number does not include doses given by the Mater at Springfield, or by local GPs.

It also does not include Ipswich residents who get vaccinated in Brisbane.

Overall, Queensland Health has administered more than 777,000 vaccinations to date across the state.

Despite the increase in capacity, walk-ins are still not allowed and anyone hoping to be vaccinated at the clinic will have to ensure they are eligible and book first.

For those who prefer to use the phone, the number is 1800 020 103.

Depending on your priority status and demand in the region, it may be several weeks or months before you receive an invitation to book an appointment in your region after registering your interest.

Increased supply is expected to be in late September to early October 2021.

People are reminded that selected GPs are also now also offering the Pfizer vaccine.