Coast behind state jab rate

GOLD Coasters are failing to roll up their sleeves to kick Covid-19, with only one in five people fully vaccinated against the global crisis.

New federal government figures show only 20.7 per cent of the city’s population has received two shots in the arm.

It places the Gold Coast a dismal 13th out of 19 locations across Queensland, well behind the top-ranked Brisbane West (28.7 per cent).

Mackay, the home of antilockdown MP George Christensen, Isaac and the Whitsundays are at the bottom of the list with 12 per cent of their people fully vaccinated.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said on Friday that the statewide average was 23.07 per cent.

Just over one-third (37.2 per cent) of Gold Coasters have had one jab. Outback Queensland is the worst-performing area (28.5 per cent).

Health experts say vaccine supply issues are mostly to blame for the Coast’s dismal figures, while city leaders say the vaccination debate must stop, particularly as the contagious Delta variant creeps north to the Gold Coast from embattled NSW.

“Australia must get to a 70plus per cent threshold as soon as possible if we are all to avoid an economic tsunami,” Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate urged.

“Once we hit 70-plus per cent, we can learn to live with this virus as we have done for centuries when challenged by all forms of influenza.

“Right now, the stress and uncertainty of these sporadic lockdowns is costing more lives than the pandemic itself.

“Vaccination may be a personal choice but I strongly implore those who are still undecided to get the jab.”

Bonney MP Sam O’Connor is urging young residents who are “worried about getting

AstraZeneca” to visit their GP to get facts from a health professional.

The 30-year-old, who could have used his MP privileges to get the Pfizer shot, chose to get the AZ vaccine instead in a bid to encourage others to consider having it.

“I had a greater chance of dying on my drive to Arundel Plaza than I did from AZ. As someone under 50, my chance of developing a blood clot after my first dose is roughly three in 100,000,” Mr O’Connor said.

Gold Coast Health says over 138,000 vaccinations had been delivered as of Thursday.

Gold Coast GP Kat McLean said the city’s limiting factor had always been supply of the vaccine from the federal government, particularly Pfizer.

“Waiting lists have been extending for weeks across multiple immunisation locations,” Dr McLean said, “and with the

Gold Coast being a border town there is a really strong argument to prioritise supply.”

“There’s so many in our community ready and waiting to be immunised and I expect these numbers to rapidly increase.

“We know supply is slowly increasing at GPs and local services are ready and waiting to ramp things up.”

But Dr Heather Green, the director of clinical psychology programs at Griffith University, said the region’s low vaccination rates could not solely be attributed to supply issues.

“While there have been significant problems in terms of supply and availability of appointments, there are other issues going on,” she said.

“Sometimes the supply might be there but communication is problematic and there’s hesitancy in terms of people who do want to receive the vaccine but feel there are other people who are a higher priority than them.”

Dr Green said while she had sympathy with that view, now was the best time for everyone to get vaccinated because, in addition to protecting the individual, it protected others, particularly those vulnerable in the community.

“Don’t feel as if you have to wait to book an appointment, get it as soon as you’re eligible.”

Another group of people putting off getting the jab are those who believe they will not get Covid-19, so there was no point in having a vaccine.

“Vaccinations are an incredible public health advancement … one of the top 10 public health achievements of the past century,” she said.

“Residents need to rely on factual data, such as that on federal and state health websites, in order to make sure they are accessing reliable and accurate vaccine information.”

To register for a vaccine visit vaccinebookings.health.qld. gov.au/registerforvaccination/