Gympie Covid vaccination hub at Civic Centre delayed

Efforts to vaccinate the region against Covid have been dealt another blow, with the wider community forced to wait even longer for their jabs.

Gympie’s Covid vaccine hub at the Civic Centre will not open until the end of July in another blow to the rollout of the vaccine across the region.

UPDATE: Another blow has been dealt to Gympie’s Covid vaccine rollout with opening of the region’s hub delayed several weeks due to a shortage of the Pfizer shot.

Gympie’s Civic Centre was expected to open its doors to serve as the hub by the end of this week, however the state government said this had now been psuhed back to the end of the month.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman said the delay was a “disappointment” but hub’s opening was always dependent on supply for the federal government.

“We were due to open a new vaccination location at Gympie this week but with the current Pfizer vaccine shortage we have no choice but to delay this opening,” she said.

The hub was due to open at the end of this week. (Photo by Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images)

“It is now due to open in late July.

“We know this is disappointing for the Gympie community but we ask you to please be patient – anyone who wants to be vaccinated, will be vaccinated.”

EARLIER: Gympie’s Civic Centre is about to become a Covid-19 vaccination centre, Queensland Health have announced and the long-awaited hub will open by the end of next week.

The Gympie site had reportedly been the state’s first choice for such a hub in the city since February.

Vaccination hubs had since opened in fellow Wide Bay cities, Bundaberg, Maryborough and Hervey Bay, in May, leaving Gympie the lone hold out.

Acting Health Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said he was glad the hub would soon be open for vaccinations.

“A new community-based vaccination location will be opened at Gympie Civic Centre next week and remain open to the end of October,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“We’re pleased to be able to provide this service to the Gympie community, however bookings are essential.

“The sooner you register your interest to receive the vaccine, the sooner you will have the opportunity to be vaccinated.”

The announcement comes as frustration over the slow rollout continues to boil over.

The Gympie Civic Centre is being turned into a Covid-19 vaccination hub, and will open from late next week.

One of Gympie’s most at-risk residents, Emma Buhse, celebrated the news but noted it should “never have taken so long”.

“But better late than never,” she said.

Ms Buhse, who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a disorder that affects a body’s connective tissue including skin, joints and blood vessels and leaves her extremely vulnerable to sickness), said the rollout had been “abysmal” to-date and had left the region’s most vulnerable nothing more than “sitting ducks” for the virus.

She was eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine as a member of the rollout’s 1b category.

However just days before the 38-year-old was about to receive the jab, the federal government excluded people under 50 due to blood clot concerns.

Ms Buhse says she was forced to “beg” for a Pfizer shot from the Sunshine Coast because no one was offering it in Gympie, and she could not secure permission to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Her appointment was cancelled and she was left to search fruitlessly for an alternative in the region.

“I was asking left and right if I could have the AstraZeneca shot, and they said ‘no’,” Ms Buhse said.

“You really do feel like a sitting duck.”

She turned her attention to the Pfizer vaccine only to discover “no one was offering it (in Gympie)”.

It was only when her parents had an appointment at the Sunshine Coast that she lucked out and was able to “beg” a jab from the University Hospital.

“I got in my wheelchair and headed for the vaccine hub at SCUH,” she said.

Ms Buhse only went to the SCUH vaccine hub because she was on the Coast with her parents at the time.

She said the lack of access had left people like herself at risk during outbreaks, given how far and wide people were now travelling interstate.

“It’s not been a lot of fun for anyone that’s vulnerable,” she said.

Ms Buhse said she hoped that would now change, and was “happy and relieved” a hub for Gympie had finally been announced.

“My whole entire community now has the option and the choice to protect themselves and their loved ones during a pandemic,” she said.

“I hope accessibility measures are put in place for the disabled and the elderly, especially those with mobility or communication issues.

“I hope they hold true to their word that the hub is happening and it’s implemented in an organised and safe manner.”

She also wants access to AstraZeneca shot be available to people willing to accept the possible risks, something Ms Buhse was happy to do for the sake of protection against the virus.

“I found the risks to be minimal at best from my own research,” she said.

“I’ve heard from people in the health industry who are my age or younger and have had the AstraZeneca vaccine before the restrictions were put in place.

“They handled it wonderfully and felt no adverse reactions from it.

“The only downside is you’re waiting three months instead of three weeks.

“If we want to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible then I think Pfizer is of the utmost importance to be vaccinated with.”

The federal government was contacted for comment.

Originally published as Gympie Covid vaccination hub at Civic Centre delayed