Cairns mass vaccination hub open to Pfizer bookings at convention centre
The starting pistol has fired in the one of the most important races this city has ever run – and we have some catching up to do.
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THE starting pistol has fired in the one of the most important races this city has ever run – and we have some catching up to do.
Health authorities will swing open the doors to a new mass vaccination hub at 7am on Friday with hopes of administering 1500 jabs per day.
The Cairns Convention Centre’s basketball stadium has been transformed into a jab-and-go operation with 20 vaccination bays, free underground parking and unexpected bells and whistles to keep queues entertained.
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) executive director of medical services Don Mackie was optimistic an 18,000-dose target would be reached over centre’s four long weekends of operation.
“We’ve done a huge amount to get the convention centre set up and ready for vaccinations,” he said.
The Cairns local government area currently has 56 per cent of residents with at least one vaccine dose, with 38.8 per cent fully vaccinated.
It is ahead of Cassowary Coast (50.1 and 30.5 per cent) and Douglas Shire (54 and 34 per cent) but the Tablelands leads the pack with 58 per cent receiving the first dose and 40.4 per cent on the full vaccination train.
Data for remote communities are not published as “geo-coding addresses is difficult, often leading to artificially low counts”, but Yarrabah has only 26.1 per cent with at least one shot, and 11 per cent fully vaccinated.
Advance Cairns CEO Paul Sparshott said none of those numbers were high enough to get the economy moving.
A new initiative, about to be announced, will call on Far North companies to make staff-wide group bookings to put their entire businesses on the road to recovery.
“I think it is a fantastic idea,” Mr Sparshott said.
“It allows you to form your own little company bubble and protect your business from being affected.
“You’re not only protecting your staff health-wise, you’re also keeping your workers working and stopping the spread.”
Mr Sparshott was hopeful the September holidays would provide an economic boost with Brisbane and Adelaide holiday-makers heading north alongside the local drive market.
“There has been a kick in airline numbers with Adelaide open,” Mr Sparshott said.
“But our two biggest markets will be starting to open up. We need to have vaccine parity with our southern markets so we need to catch up.
“It is a race.”
It is also a numbers game, and Queensland needs to gain ground.
The state is currently sitting at 53.3 per cent of people over the age of 16 with at least one dose, and 34.8 per cent fully vaccinated.
NSW is at 74.1 per cent for first doses, while Victoria is at 60.8 per cent.
If the numbers stack up with 9000 Cairns residents receiving both their first and second jabs across the four mass vax hub weekends, that alone would lift the local government area’s overall rate to 62 per cent with at least one jab, and 45 per cent with both.
However, run-of-the-mill clinics will still be operating before, during and after the convention centre hub’s tenure – and pharmacists and GPs will administer doses too.
Meanwhile, the Cairns Post can today reveal a school-based Moderna vaccine rollout is scheduled to start first week after the September holidays.
It means the city stands a real chance of reaching an 80 per cent vaccination target well before Christmas if the city comes out in force.
CHHHS vaccination manager Shelley Pember has administered doses to plenty of Far Northerners, including inmates at Lotus Glen Correctional Facility.
She would not be drawn on whether men or women were the biggest wusses when it came to syringe fear, but she was optimistic the ambitious target would be reached.
“Anyone that steps forward for a vaccine is a hero in my eyes,” she said.
“They’re all as brave as each other.
“I’m ever hopeful and I know that the Cairns community is doing everything they can to get to the 80 per cent mark that we need.”
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath will arrive in Cairns on Friday to visit the hub and issue a rallying cry for the community to get the jab.
It is understood Cairns MP Michael Healy will meet with Tourism Tropical North Queensland members in the morning to explain what is being done to get support for the struggling industry.
Mr Healy said it was critical to get maximum numbers through the door.
“I think it’s the responsible thing to do,” he said.
“One would hope that with increased vaccinations, we will see an end to these lockdowns which have had significant detrimental impacts on our community.”
Ayrton Doumani, 13, got a sneak peek inside the centre when he got an early-bird jab on Thursday.
“It feels good,” he said.
“I’m doing my bit in the world by getting the vaccine so I can help other people.”
Authorities are pulling out all stops to make sure as many people as possible come through the doors.
Tourism operators have taken photos holding up handwritten messages of thanks to vaccine recipients for doing their bit.
Those images will be broadcast onto giant screens usually reserved for sweaty Cairns Taipans basketballers.
There will be entertainment with a live radio broadcast, face painting, trivia flyers that double as origami hats, an open cafe and two chances to win free stays in one of Crystalbrook Collection hotel Flynn’s luxurious Sea King rooms.
Boxes of stickers and lollipops are also in ready supply.
The hub is open to anyone aged 12-59.
The aim is to administer first doses on September 10-12 and 17-19, with second doses October 1-3 and 8-10.
Times are Friday 7am to 7pm, Saturday 7am to 7pm and Sunday 8am to 4pm.
Walk-ins are welcome but bookings and registration online are preferred at the Queensland Health website.
Hartley St, between Sheridan and Grafton streets, will be one-way only (from Sheridan St to Grafton St) with parking reserved for people receiving vaccinations for each Friday of the four vaccination hub dates.
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