Queensland records no new Covid cases as Annastacia Palaszczuk launches new mass vax hub

The Premier has issued a plea for Queenslanders to get vaccinated as she warned Delta was a “clear and present danger” and an outbreak was inevitable. It comes after no new Covid cases overnight.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged Queenslanders to get vaccinated, warning the state would not be able to manage an inevitable outbreak of Delta.

Ms Palaszczuk urged Queenslanders to use this ‘window of opportunity’ to get vaccinated ‘before Delta gets here’ and spreads through the community.

Her plea was backed by chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young who said there would come a time in the near future where Queensland would not be able to eliminate Covid.

“We are going to see cases spread that we won’t be able to manage unless we are vaccinated’,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Jono Searle

Ms Palaszczuk said there had never been a greater threat to Queensland than that presented by NSW’s Delta outbreak.

“There has never been a more real threat than what is on our border and that’s the encroachment of Delta,” said Ms Palaszczuk

“It is a real and present danger.”

It comes as Queensland recorded no new cases of Covid in the past 24 hours.

Ms Palaszczuk said it was encouraging that people in Queensland’s multicultural communities were continuing to get vaccinated.

But the Premier could not say when Queensland would reach the magic ‘80 per cent’ vaccination rate despite other states announcing their ‘freedom day’ dates

Ms Palaszczuk called for people living in Brisbane’s north to visit the Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall to get vaccinated – with 1500 vaccinations available per day.

Ms Palaszczuk said that 18,902 vaccines were administered on Monday in Queensland.

Of Queenslanders eligible for the vaccine, 53.33% had received the first dose and 34.75% were fully vaccinated.

She said she was pleased to see 934 walk-ins in Logan, a sign that walk-in clinics were vital to the vaccine rollout.

Ms Palaszczuk said more mobile pop up vaccine clinics would be established and text messages to Queenslanders to encourage them to get a jab.

Ms Palaszczuk said 200 police officers would be getting vaccinated at the Boondall mass hub on Monday.

She said while 1500 vaccinations can be administered per day at the Boondall hub currently, next week that number will be boosted to 3000 per day and then eventually scaled up to 6000 a day.

It comes as Windaroo State School children are able to return to school after all of the students from the Mt Warren Park daycare tested negative.

Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Steven Miles once again defended Queensland’s vaccine rollout, saying the reason the state is behind others is largely because the federal government is channelling some of its allocation to fight the outbreak in NSW.

He also reiterated the Premier’s pleas for more people to come forward and get vaccinated, saying the Delta variant will come to the state sooner or later.

“As you can see we are doing as much as we can to help rush Queenslanders to get vaccinated,” he said.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Sarah Marshall

“We are trying to hold the window open as long as we can to help Queenslanders get vaccinated before the delta variant arrives.

“The federal government reports say Queensland is one of the only states that is using all of our vaccine capabilities.

“The federal government should be upfront to Queenslanders about how many of our vaccines are being redistributed to NSW.”

Mr Miles questioned if the redistribution of the vaccine to NSW was just about the outbreak, asking why the federal government is not only taking vaccines from Queensland but also Victoria, which is battling its own outbreak.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath also took aim at the Morrison Government, saying “they stand up every day and beat their chest about how successful their vaccine uptake is going while they are attacking Queensland for our low vaccine rates”.

“But Queensland is fully using our stock,” she said.

“There are only three jurisdictions in that federal government data released today that say they are fully using their stock, according to the Health Minister.”

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said that a more streamlined system for granting exemptions would be up running in the next month or two.

He said that on Monday 60 people relocating to Queensland were placed in domestic quarantine.

Only one person was turned around at the border who did not have the exemption.

Originally published as Queensland records no new Covid cases as Annastacia Palaszczuk launches new mass vax hub