October 5, 2021
Free Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations will be offered next week by Darling Downs Health at the Kingaroy Showgrounds.
The clinic will be open to all residents aged 12 and above from 7:30am to 6:30pm on Tuesday to Thursday (October 12-14); and from 7:30am to 11:30am on Friday (October 15).
“The best way to protect yourself, your loved ones and your community from COVID-19 is by receiving a vaccination,” Darling Downs Health spokesperson Michelle Forrest said.
Bookings are preferred and can be made online, however walk-ins without an appointment are also welcome.
People should bring along their ID, Medicare card and a pen.
Anyone with questions about the vaccine should talk to their doctor or health care worker to get the most up-to-date and correct information.
* * *
As at October 3, vaccination rates in local Council areas still lagged behind Queensland and National rates:
- Cherbourg 30.2 per cent first dose; 19 per cent double-vaccinated
- Gympie 63.3 / 44.3
- South Burnett 60.4 / 39.9
- Somerset 63.4 / 45.2
- Toowoomba 70.1 / 49.7
- Western Downs 60.6 / 40.8
In comparison, Queensland rates are 67.6 / 48.7 and Australia 79.6 / 56.9.
* * *
At Tuesday’s media conference, Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said more than two million Queenslanders aged 16 years or over had now been double-vaccinated.
She said people who were double-vaccinated only had a 25 per cent chance of passing the virus to other people, ie. one-quarter the risk of unvaccinated people.
Dr Young urged people who had received their first dose to come forward for their second to reduce their risks of contracting the disease: after three weeks for Pfizer, four weeks for Moderna and 12 weeks for AstraZeneca.
“There is some reduction of risk after the first dose but most reduction occurs after the second dose,” she said.
“Don’t wait until after we have an outbreak.”
She said Queensland had managed to stay on top of the latest cases in the community.
“But that can’t last. We are going to get more and more cases of the virus coming into Queensland. There are so many different ways it can get in,” she said.
Dr Young said Queensland was coming out of the phase of the pandemic which was all about stopping the virus coming into the State.
“Now we are getting to the point where we won’t be able to maintain that,” she said.
“The virus will come in no matter what we do, so we need to have our health system prepared, which it has been doing now for over 18 months.”
