CHO warns QLD to get maximum immunity before Covid wave hits

During his visit to Toowoomba, Queensland’s chief health officer said there were “definite signs” of a new Covid wave hitting the state within weeks. Read the full story here.

During his visit to Toowoomba on Monday, the Queensland chief health officer said there were definite signs of a Covid-19 wave hitting the state within weeks.

After an increase of cases were reported in NSW and Victoria in the past week, Dr John Gerrard said a number of indicators were showing early signs of a new wave of increased community transmission in Queensland.

Queenslands chief health officer Dr John Gerrard after a media call to raise awareness of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We had a similar experience with previous waves starting in suburban Sydney or Melbourne and then spreading up to the Gold Coast or Brisbane a couple of weeks later and that seems to be the pattern we’re seeing,” he said.

Dr Gerrard said while it was too early to tell if this wave would be as severe as previous waves, indicators showed Queensland was only one or two weeks behind NSW and Victoria.

“We’re not increasing our alertness level yet but we are continuing to look at those measures daily,” he said.

“I would expect within the next couple of weeks we will be seeing definite signs of a wave and there’s a good chance we will be increasing our alert system.”

With 93 per cent of Queenslanders having two doses of the vaccine and more than two thirds of the state being infected with the virus naturally, the chief health officer said this may mean the majority of Queensland had “hybrid immunity.”

He urged anyone over the age of 50 to get their fourth vaccination now, if they hadn’t already, to ensure they had maximum immunity should another wave occur.

“The one good piece of news is if we do have a wave starting now, with a bit of luck it will be all over by Christmas,” he said.