First look inside the Gympie Covid vaccine hub as it prepares to open

Hundreds of Gympie region resident will be able to get a Covid jab every day once the vaccination hub at the Civic Centre opens on Tuesday morning.

More than 400 Covid vaccine shots will be able to be delivered in Gympie each day when the region’s long-awaited vaccination hub at the Civic Centre opens its doors for the first time on Tuesday morning.

The State Government-run hub will be able to cater to 2500 people each week, with a goal of delivering 30,000 doses by its October closing date.

Ten vaccination bays will service patients in the Civic Centre Prospectors Hall.

They will then be monitored in for 15-30 minutes in the Fossickers room before leaving via the Senior Citizen’s Centre side of the building.

The doors open from 9am, and residents have been eager to join the queue, with the hub booked solid for the first week.

Ten vaccination bays are set up in the Gympie Civic Centre Prospectors Hall.

Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital nursing director Amy Holmes welcomed the region’s response, saying it was a necessary step to putting the worst of the pandemic behind us.

“We’ve done a phenomenal job in Covid,” she said.

“We’ve done all the right things, we’ve stayed at home, we’ve worn face masks, we’ve washed our hands. But we’re all getting tired of it and the only way to bring us to a new normal and avoid lockdowns is to come forward and get vaccinated.

Patients enter from the main doors of the Civic Centre, and leave at the Senior Citizens Centre exit.

“We want to find a new normal post-Covid.

“We don’t want to take these centres over forever, we want to fully utilise them while we’re here so this centre can get back to (hosting) gigs and theatre.”

The Fossickers Room has been transformed into a monitoring station.

“But we can only go back there once we vaccinate the people we need to vaccinate.”

Ms Holmes said the experience would be unlike anything people had seen before, including herself.

“Lots of people have never come to a big vaccine hub; it’s certainly something I’ve never seen until now in my lifetime,” she said.

People will then wait for 15 minutes-30 minutes.

Gympie Covid vaccination hub at the Civic Centre in Mellor Street.

“You’ll leave here vaccinated, with a second appointment with a lollipop and a drink of water and hopefully a really great experience.”

The State Government has been exploring using the centre as a a hub since February.

It was originally scheduled to open early in July, but vaccine shortages pushed the date back.

‘We’ve been planning this for a long time, working really closely with Gympie Regional Council, recognising this community, like all our communities, is really important.

“We want to make sure it’s absolutely utilised while we’re here and we get as many people vaccinated as possible.”

Prospectors Hall is the main vaccination clinic.

People can register online or calling 134 Covid.

“We want everyone to tell their friends, tell their family, tell their colleagues that we’re here,” Ms Holmes said.

“We’re only here until October so it’s important people jump online now, register and come forward.”

The hub will cater not only to Gympie city residents but people from its regional towns, including Tin Can Bay and Pomona.

People who have a second vaccination booked elsewhere can have the booking moved to the Gympie hub.

Originally published as First look inside the Gympie Covid vaccine hub as it prepares to open