Cherbourg could enter lockdown as Qld border opens unless vax rates drastically increase

A South Burnett town could be forced into lockdown when Queensland opens its borders at the end of the year unless drastic action is taken to boost vaccination numbers.

An Indigenous community in Queensland’s South Burnett is bracing for a possible lockdown as the rest of the state prepares to open in time for Christmas.

The latest local government area vaccination data revealed Cherbourg remains the least protected community in the state, with 32 per cent of residents having had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and 24.9 per cent fully vaccinated.

At the current rate, Cherbourg will not reach their target of 80 per cent until June 2022.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk released the state’s long-awaited roadmap out of Covid on Monday, announcing Queensland‘s borders would reopen to fully vaccinated travellers on December 17.

For the regions with low vaccination rates, she warned she would not hesitate to trigger “regionalised lockdowns and restrictions” if they don’t reach 80 per cent by then.

Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire CEO Chatur Zala said there was a strong possibility of Cherbourg ending up in lockdown unless drastic action was taken, which could prove disastrous for the community.

“We don’t have any shops in Cherbourg, so we’d have to make arrangements to get groceries to the people,” Mr Zala said.

“All the services providers who come in from outside, they can’t come into the community, so how are we going to manage all the critical services in the community?

“The Queensland goal is 80 per cent by the first week of December. We might not even be at 40 per cent by that time.”

Mr Zala and Mayor Elvie Sandow travelled to Brisbane to meet with Multicultural Affairs Minister Leanne Linard on Monday to discuss a roadmap to getting the community vaccinated as quickly as possible.

He said several strategies were discussed to hit their target rate of 70 to 80 per cent, including going “door-to-door” to vaccinate residents, vaccinating children from the age of 12 at school, and incentives such as vouchers to encourage people to get the jab.

Mr Zala said the warning from chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young that every Queenslander would end up infected with Covid when borders reopen is a frightening prospect for the community.

“With the chronic illnesses that we've got here and with such an dangerous virus, we can’t take risks. It’s going to spread before we know,” he said.

“We don’t want to see any sad news here, so vaccinations are the only way we can save this community.”

Misinformation and anti-vax “propaganda” have been circulating through Cherbourg and spreading seeds of doubt about the vaccine, Mr Zala said, as well as an “it won’t happen to me” mentality among many young people.

The vaccination action plan will be discussed further at Wednesday’s council meeting.

“We need to be blunt and make it very clear this virus is coming and this is our chance over these next two months to get the people vaccinated,” Mr Zala said.

Originally published as Cherbourg could enter lockdown as Qld border opens unless vax rates drastically increase