Queenslanders among the first Australians to receive COVID-19 vaccine

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed if vaccine supply arrives this weekend as planned, 100 people will receive it as early as Monday on the Gold Coast.

ONE hundred Queenslanders will be among the first Australians to receive the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine as authorities prepare to begin rolling it out on the Gold Coast from Monday.

The Pfizer vaccine will initially be rolled out to 27,000 frontline quarantine and health workers, with the general public urged not to visit hospitals and GPs asking for the vaccine next week because it would not be available to them.

Covid vaccine rollout plan.

But by the end of October, anyone aged 18 and older will be able to get the jab.

Responsibility for the first phase of the rollout has been divided up between the state and federal governments.

The Commonwealth is managing the rollout across the aged care sector with Health Minister Greg Hunt saying it would take about six weeks to vaccinate more than 183,000 residents and 339,000 staff across the country. Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the vaccine would provide another level of risk mitigation, and would initially be rolled out to protect those most at risk of catching COVID-19.

Dr Alison O'Connor, Medical Co-ordinator and GP at Ochre Health Sippy Downs is in line to receive the Pfizer vaccine as a frontline health worker. Picture Lachie Millard

“There are people working in hotel quarantine, there are people working at the borders who are coming into contact with potential cases,” she said. “So that will help enormously.”

Dr Young said the program would be extended to a “broader population” once frontline workers were vaccinated.

“No one needs to do anything today in terms of getting vaccinated,” she said. “We will be approaching those people who we really believe need to be vaccinated to protect themselves from getting it, because they’re being exposed, and to protect the rest of the community.

“If we get all those people vaccinated, which we fully intend to, that will protect our entire community in Queensland because we know that’s where we’ve had outbreaks.”

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young speaks during a press conference at Parliament House to provide a COVID-19 update. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The Federal Government’s responsibility under phase 1A of the rollout is to vaccinate residents and staff in more than 2600 residential aged care facilities nationwide.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said more than 240 facilities housing tens of thousands of residents including some in Queensland had been put at the front of the queue to be vaccinated next week.

Mr Hunt said residential aged care facilities would be grouped up to a maximum of eight facilities within a 30km radius for the rollout.

“Vaccination for residents and staff will be made available through residential aged care facilities where they live or work, and it will be administered through an in-reach workforce provider,” he said.

All other people aged 70 and over are included in the next phase of the rollout and are expected to be able to attend specified central locations or medical facilities to receive a jab.

In-home and community aged care staff will also have access to the same facilities in that round of vaccinations.

It comes as Queensland recorded no new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, while 9846 tests were undertaken in the 24 hours prior.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said if the vaccine supply arrived this weekend as planned, 100 people would receive it on Monday on the Gold Coast.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks during a press conference at Parliament House in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The rollout would then move to the Princess Alexandra Hospital on Wednesday and to Cairns next Friday.

The vaccine will then arrive at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, the Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Townsville the week after. Following this, all healthcare, defence, police and emergency workers will be offered the vaccine, with the rollout to then expand to include vulnerable people.

Ms Palaszczuk said the rollout would start very slowly but there was no need to panic.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the vaccine hubs such as the Gold Coast and Townsville were for dedicated cohorts, not for the general population. She urged the public to not turn up to a GP, pharmacy or hospital to get the jab in coming weeks.

Dr Young said at this stage, pregnant women and those breastfeeding should not get the jab because trials haven’t been undertaken. But she said those women should consult with their doctors.

Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck said it was vital residents and families in aged care understood the information available to them about the vaccine strategy.

Ochre Medical Centre Sippy Downs GP Alison O’Connor is anticipating getting the jab in coming weeks. 

“It’s really important, I think we’ve got to get everybody vaccinated to the best of our ability,” she said. “Herd immunity is the game.”