NO EXCUSES, GET THE JAB
New superclinic means it’s never been easier
TOOWOOMBA’S vaccine capacity has been tripled thanks to the opening of a new superclinic, with health authorities hoping to have four out of five eligible residents fully jabbed by November.
The new 22-bay clinic underneath Clifford Gardens Shopping Centre will be able to administer 1500 vaccines a day from next week, well above the daily average of 407 jabs at the temporary clinic at Baillie Henderson Hospital.
Darling Downs Health chief executive Peter Gillies said the organisation wanted to have an 80 per cent vaccination rate within months.
NAOMI Preston lined up alongside hundreds of other residents to get their Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at the opening of Toowoomba’s new superclinic – which could theoretically cover the region in less than 100 days.
Health experts hope the new 22-bay superclinic underneath Clifford Gardens will help drive Toowoomba region’s vaccination rate to 80 per cent by November as the state races against an inevitable Delta strain outbreak.
The clinic, which will triple the region’s capacity to vaccinate locals, welcomed nearly 500 people on Monday, including walk-ins from priority groups.
In getting her first dose, Ms Preston is hoping to do her part to ensure Australia opens up to the world again – and there’s one thing she plans to do when it eventually does.
“I’d like to go cruising again, I just want to go on another cruise,” she said.
Darling Downs Health chief executive Peter Gillies said the clinic would be scaled up to 1000 jabs a day from Wednesday, and up to 1500 from Monday.
“Baillie Henderson was always a temporary solution, it worked really well but the volume we need to get through the clinic now is too much for that site,” he said.
“It’s great we can move to a more suitable location.
“We’ll start a bit slower than that, just to get the systems and processes working, so we’ll be running the clinic Monday to
Friday from 8.30am to 4pm and looking to move to weekends in the future.”
“There are targets and we would like, by mid-November, to be over 80 per cent, and we certainly don’t want to be lagging behind other parts of the state.”
As of September 6, just 35.8 per cent of eligible residents across the Toowoomba region were fully vaccinated, meaning another 122,000 jabs need to be administered.
Mr Gillies said a Delta strain outbreak was inevitable.
“We’re encouraging people to book online and turn up 15 minutes before your appointment,” he said.
“The Delta variant is very infectious and it’s only a matter of time before we end up with an outbreak.
To book your vaccination at the Clifford Gardens superclinic, head online to www.health.qld.gov.au /vaccinebookings.