By Dominique Tassell
It was announced on Monday 7 February that the check-in app will not be required at some businesses.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state was “coming down off the peak”.
The check-in app is now no longer required at places like shops and taxis, but people will still need to show their vaccination status to enter certain venues.
People visiting pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants will still need to check in, and those who are unvaccinated will still not be allowed in.
Ms D’Ath stated in the Monday 7 February press conference that services like taxis and rideshares, as well as retail supermarkets, hairdressers, beauty therapy facilities, gyms, indoor play centres, real estate agencies, auction houses, and more, will no longer require check-ins.
“All of those areas will no longer need to, and any part of government buildings or services where the public ordinarily have access to, will not need to check in now.”
The Southern Downs region hit over 1000 cases of Covid-19 last week, and currently sits at 1136 cases.
Concerns have been raised over aged care residents and the high number of cases in these facilities.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said last week that she was “very concerned” about the number of aged care residents who have not received a Covid-19 booster shot.
“Too many aged care residents are passing away who had not been offered a booster.”
She said she did not know how many facilities in the state had been visited for boosters.
“The Commonwealth reports that currently 100 per cent of all facilities have been visited for vaccinations, but we don’t know how many have been visited for boosters and most importantly, how many residents overall have received their booster,” she said.
“I’m hearing from people who say they’re begging managers of aged care facilities to bring people in to vaccinate their loved ones for boosters.”
Distribution of boosters to aged care homes is handled by the federal government, and Ms D’Ath said there is no specific data being released on this.
She did state that only three-quarters of aged care residents have had their booster shot.
“Is that a consent issue? Are they not telling families? Are they not planning ahead so that families can ensure consent?” she said.
“That’s not good enough to leave potentially a quarter of all residents vulnerable and at-risk and these numbers speak for themselves.”
From February 21, the Novavax vaccine will also be provided in Queensland.
Ms D’Ath stated that “there are discussions at the moment with the Commonwealth as to who will be provided with that Novavax”.
“It is our preferred position that that will go to community pharmacies initially and to GPs, just as Moderna has now … so that we can make this more business-as-usual as the vaccination program continues to roll out across the state.”
Dr Gerrard said he couldn’t be sure new strains of Covid-19 would reach Queensland, but that he was confident the state was well prepared for that scenario.
“I’m a glass-half-full kind of person. I’m very heartened by the level of immunity that we now have in our community, but of course anything could happen,” he said.
“These viruses mutate naturally … they change, they alter, and the level of immunity to one particular strain will change over time. Whether that leads to a substantial substance secondary wave, we just don’t know.”
