Cairns residents rush for jabs at Cairns Convention Centre ahead of state’s vax mandate

GPs and pharmacists are having to get extra vaccine doses as a late rush of Cairns residents turns up to get the jab.

FAR North residents are expected to be queuing out the door at the Cairns Convention Centre on Thursday as part of the late rush to get vaccinated before tomorrow’s mandate, which will exclude unvaccinated people from pubs, cafes and major sporting events.

According to Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Covid-19 vaccination program director Kelly Pollock, demand for first, second and booster shots had driven numbers to double.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Covid-19 vaccination program director Kelly Pollock, and CHHHS Vaccination Manager Shelley Pember, urge everyone when getting vaccinated to be kind to staff. Photo: Alison Paterson

“We have had a huge increase in demand finally since Sunday when we received information that boosters could be received after five not six months and in true Far North Queensland style, everyone is wanting to come in before Christmas,” she said.

“There really is a mixture we are still seeing some first doses yesterday, (but) just over 50 per cent were booster vaccinations.”

Ms Pollock said CHHHS understood there were a number of reasons for the surge in demand.

“The borders have obviously now opened and people want to travel for Christmas and people want to get their booster early,” she said.

“We have surged from over 500 people a day to over 1000 a day and we ask everyone to be patient with our staff.”

Ms Pollock said there had been some verbal abuse of staff which she referred to as “unpleasantness.”

“Our staff have been doing this since February and we are a little tired,” she said.

“While we have had a bit of unpleasantness, at the end of the day we are in this together and want to protect ourselves, our family and community.

“So at the Cairns Convention Centre we are meeting the increase in demand by increasing our hours.

Calanna Pharmacy’s Mo Elliessy prepares a syringe with a vial of the Covid-19 vaccine. Picture: Brendan Radke

“There is currently around a 60 minute wait and from this evening we will be open until 7pm on weeknights.”

Ms Pollock said anyone considering getting jabbed should not delay any longer.

“If you are still sitting on the fence please come forward,” she said.

Ms Pollock said CHHHS had been assisting other vaccination sites in Cairns when they needed more doses.

“There’s no shortages of vaccines, we have been helping out GPs and pharmacies if they need extra doses because they belong to all of us,” she said.

CHHHS vaccination manager Shelley Pember said pop-up clinics will be held this weekend at Cairns Central and Historic Village Herberton.

“We will have enough vaccines for everyone,” she said.

“We know there will be lots of people at Cairns Central near Santa and you can knock off two jobs at once,” she said.

“Both pop-up clinics are open all weekend.”

Pop-up clinics will also be held at Dimbulah Primary Health Care on Thursday December 16, 9.30am-3pm and Friday December 17, 8.30am to 1pm and at the Mareeba’s Gateway Hotel, Thursday December 16, noon to 6pm.

Meanwhile, many pharmacies have also reported an increase in the number of people booking a vaccination.

At Calanna Wholehealth Pharmacy Group, retail manager Catherine Hackett, said up to 40 people a day were booking in for a shot, with the booster shot in high demand.

“Over the last few days we have a had a lot of phone calls about the booster, “she said.

“We are only doing vaccinations of AZ and Moderna at our Woree and Edmonton stores.

“We prefer people to book online to make sure they get the vaccination they need.”

Originally published as Cairns residents rush for jabs at Cairns Convention Centre ahead of state’s vax mandate