Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will mandate vaccine program for frontline health workers after COVID outbreak

Queensland’s vaccine program will undertake an emergency change after two outbreaks were linked to a nurse and a doctor who hadn’t been jabbed.

The Queensland Premier has revealed a new mandate to vaccinate frontline health workers after two outbreaks in the Sunshine State were linked to an unvaccinated nurse and a doctor.

The change to the jab rollout comes after the state recorded 10 new cases on Tuesday, with eight of those infections locally acquired.

Under the new rules, any health worker who has not had their first dose of the vaccine will not be allowed to work with COVID patients.

“There will be some new mandates coming into effect in terms of health professionals dealing with these COVID-positive cases,” Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters on Tuesday morning.

“Already 41,000 of our frontline health workers and people looking after hotel quarantine have been vaccinated, which is around 89 per cent.

“And we expect that to be completed over the next 48 hours.”

RELATED: Queensland venues on alert

Those who have visited exposure sites have been told to get tested and isolate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said it was “unfortunate this outbreak occurred when it did” in relation to the vaccine rollout for health workers.

She said only those frontline staff who have received their first dose of one of the jabs will now be permitted to work directly with COVID-19 cases.

“We did set ourselves that target for between four and six weeks to get all of 1A workers vaccinated,” Dr Young told reporters.

“We believe we’ll have finished that by tomorrow.”

Brisbane was plunged into a three-day lockdown from Monday evening as health authorities scrambled to trace a number of infections in the Sunshine State capital.

The strict directive kicked in at 5pm Monday for Greater Brisbane, just hours after Queensland officials announced four new COVID-19 cases had been confirmed.

Peak hour looks very different this morning.

This is what it looks like when we work together 🙌

Thanks for staying home, Greater Brisbane.#bnetrafficpic.twitter.com/sMyDhzXNlf

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) March 29, 2021

The update comes as NSW recorded zero new cases on Tuesday, despite fears the outbreak had stretched from Brisbane to Byron Bay, where two of Queensland’s cases had visited while infectious.

Several venues are on alert in the renowned holiday town including The Farm and Beach hotel.

Anyone who was at the Byron Beach Hotel on March 26 between 7.15pm and 8.30pm must isolate for 14 days and get tested.

The same goes for those at The Farm Byron Bay on March 28 between 8am and 9.30pm.

Also anyone who visited the Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park communal toilets on March 26 from 6pm to 6.30pm and 9.10pm to 9.30pm and on March 27 from 3.20pm to 3.50pm should immediately get tested and self-isolate.

The same precautions should be taken for patrons who went to Mokha Cafe at Byron Bay on March 27, from 10.30am to 11.30am.