‘We’ve had 680 days to prepare’: Qld ready for Covid surge as 80 per cent vax mark reached

The Deputy Premier says Queensland is well and truly ready for a predicted surge in Covid cases as the state hits the 80 per cent fully vaccinated.

No new cases have been recorded locally or in quarantine, as Queensland hits the 80 per cent fully vaccinated milestone four days before borders will open to southern hotspots.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said 680 days since Covid arrived in Queensland a significant number of residents were now vaccinated.

“Today is a historic day - the day 80 per cent of us were double vaccinated against Covid-19,” he said.

However, Mr Miles said some areas, such as the Gold Coast, were lagging.

“It’s still a little bit patchy across the state,” he said.

Mr Miles said tourism on the Gold Coast, combined with the region’s poor vaccination numbers, meant it was one of the government’s main areas of concern.

While Mr Miles was buoyant about today’s “double doughnut” figures, he warned that it could

be “one of our last.”

Deputy Premier Steven Miles. Picture: John Gass

Mr Miles assured Queenslanders that local hospitals were prepared for a Covid wave, despite doctors’ fears there was no additional capacity to handle surges in cases at hospitals as the border reopens.

He said the state had been preparing for a Covid surge since the beginning of the pandemic - 680 days ago.

“We have had a long time to prepare for next week,” Mr Miles said.

“Our hospitals are well prepared, they are always well prepared for whatever comes at them and in this case that is a Covid wave.

“We should expect to start to see cases from next week, but we’ve had a long time to prepare - 680 days.

“Our hospitals and our health staff are fantastic, they’ve kept Queenslanders safe for all of those 680 days and they will deliver to them the same kind of high-quality care we’re accustomed to, as we start to see Cover cases come in.”

He said the state government were investing “hundreds of millions of dollars” of additional funds to open up more beds and add capacity.

“This will be a challenge for our health workers but we are ensuring they have the resources that they need,” he said.

He said that the state was “fortunate” that they could provide optional surgeries and other ICU care before the influx of cases next week.

“I don’t know if anyone else in the world was able to wait until they had double vaccinated 80 per cent of their population before the virus starts to arrive in large numbers,” he said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said today was a great day for Queensland.

“Very few places in the world have got to this level of protection before a Covid wave arrives,” she said.

“The credit for this belongs to each and every Queenslander. But we can’t stop here.

“Let’s get to 90 per cent and beyond. Please get vaccinated.”

80% double dosed.

This is a great day for Queensland.

Very few places in the world have got to this level of protection before a COVID-19 wave arrives.

The credit for this belongs to each and every Queenslander.

But we can’t stop here.

Let’s get to 90% and beyond.

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) December 8, 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was first to break the news on social media, saying Queensland and the Northern Territory had both reached 80 per cent on Thursday.

The state’s border to New South Wales, Greater Adelaide and Victoria will open on December 13 while mandatory vaccination rules will come into effect on December 17.

“Well done to Queensland and the NT... Confirming you’ve officially hit 80 per cent double dose vaccination, the target in our National Plan,” Mr Morrison wrote.

“Thank you to everyone who got their jab.

“Please get your booster if you’re due and help Australia continue to safely reopen and stay safely open.”

Well done to Queensland and the NT! Confirming you’ve officially hit 80% double dose vaccination, the target in our National Plan. Thank you to everyone who got their jab.

Please get your booster if you’re due and help Australia continue to safely reopen and stay safely open.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) December 8, 2021

Mr Miles said the Prime Minister’s “breaking” tweet about the milestone was the “first thing Scott Morrison has done to help”.

“I guess in some ways, that tweet giving us the data sooner than we would have got it,” he said.

Mr Miles said that Queensland police, businesses and local systems all required a number of days to get ready for the border opening, which is why the date would not be brought forward despite the state reaching the 80 per cent mark early.

“They will be ready and in place on Monday,” he said.

Mr Miles also announced this morning that construction has started on a new facility at Northshore Hamilton for Queensland biotechnology company Vaxxas to develop and manufacture its needle-free vaccine facility.

The vaccine patch to be produced by Vaxxas.

“An existing warehouse here at Northshore, Brisbane will be refurbished and transformed into a state-of-the-art biomedical manufacturing facility, creating more than 80 jobs during construction” he said.

“Once construction is finished in early 2023, Vaxxas expects to eventually manufacture enough needle-free vaccine kits to deliver 300 million doses each year at full capacity.

“Over the next 10 years, this rate of production is expected to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the Queensland economy.

Vaxxas will employ up to 110 high-skilled biomedical experts when operating in early 2023.

Chief Development and Operations Officer at Vaxxas Angus Forster spoke from the Queensland company’s new facility about their needle-free vaccines technology.

“When they penetrate the skin, they deliver the vaccine to the abundant immune cells in the top layers of the skin,” he said.

The vaccine will be designed to be pressed as a patch onto skin and be removed after 10 seconds.

Originally published as ‘We’ve had 680 days to prepare’: Qld ready for Covid surge as 80 per cent vax mark reached