New community-based vaccination centres opening in Rockhampton, Gladstone

The new Rockhampton centre will be located at Block C Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (former DPI) on Yeppoon Road, and will open on Monday, 16 August. It will replace the Rockhampton Hospital vaccination clinic which closed on Thursday, August 12.

The new Gladstone centre will be located at Block B of the CQUniversity TAFE site in Derby Street, and will open on Monday, August 23. It will replace the Gladstone Hospital clinic which closes at 4pm on Thursday, August 19.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the new centres will offer increased capacity in response to growing demand for vaccinations across regional Queensland.

"As more Queenslanders come forward for vaccination and supply increases, we're able to open up larger venues," Minister D'Ath said.

"Many of our current vaccination sites are scalable, meaning they are able to ramp up daily capacity as more supply becomes available and we're able to administer more and more vaccines."

"We're excited to be able to enhance access to the free COVID-19 vaccine in our regional communities such as Rockhampton and Gladstone, as well as Mackay, Cairns and Townsville," Minister D'Ath said.

"Rockhampton's new site will be able to offer up to 10 vaccination bays, an increase from the four vaccination bays currently available at the hospital; and Gladstone's new site will increase to six bays, up from four at the hospital.

Ms D'Ath said people can also get vaccinated through eligible GPs and community pharmacies.

To date, more than 30,000 doses had been delivered by Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service.

CQ Health Chief Executive Steve Williamson said the new centres were an exciting addition to the region.

"These new centres will initially cater for existing bookings and will progressively ramp up as vaccine supply increases to administer a combined 10,000 doses a week," Mr Williamson said.

Bookings are preferred for vaccination at the new centres, as there will be limited capacity for walk-ins dependent on supply at the time.

Both centres will initially open from 9am to 4pm from Monday to Friday; and from 9am to 4pm on Sunday in Rockhampton, with potential for extended hours in the future.

Anyone aged 16 to 59 is now eligible to register their interest to get vaccinated at a Queensland Health vaccination clinic.

As Queensland Health manages the supply of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine across the state, vaccination will be prioritised for people who have a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19.

People will be invited to make an appointment as appointments are available in their location.

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