Toowoomba residents will have greater access to the COVID-19 vaccine from next week with the opening of a new community-based vaccination centre.
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the new centre in a converted undercover carpark at Clifford Gardens Shopping Centre will offer increased capacity in response to growing demand for vaccinations across the state.
"As more Queenslanders come forward for vaccination and supply increases, we're able to move to 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."
The new vaccination centre is set to open on Monday, 13 September, and will replace the clinic at Baillie Henderson Hospital for community vaccinations.
"We're excited to be able to enhance access to the free COVID-19 vaccine in our regional communities such as Toowoomba, as well as Rockhampton, Gladstone, Cairns, Townsville and Mackay," Minister D'Ath said.
"The new site will offer 22 vaccination bays, increasing from the eight vaccination bays currently available at Baillie Henderson Hospital."
Darling Down Health spokesperson Annette Scott said it was important people continued to register their interest to receive the vaccine.
"This new centre will initially cater for existing bookings and will progressively ramp up as vaccine supply increases to administer up to 1,500 doses a day," Ms Scott said.
"Vaccination is our best chance of beating this pandemic," Ms Scott said.
"Thank you to all those local residents who have already come forward to be vaccinated. So far, more than 53,000 doses have been delivered across the Darling Downs Health Service.
"Anyone aged 16 to 59 is now eligible to register their interest to get vaccinated at a Queensland Health vaccination clinic. From Monday 13 September those aged 12 – 15 also become eligible for vaccination.
"If you want to get vaccinated, please register your interest as soon as possible."
To register your interest visit www.health.qld.gov.au/vaccinebookings
You will be invited to make an appointment as appointments are available in your location.''
Bookings are preferred for vaccinations at the Darling Downs Health COVID-19 Community Vaccination Clinic at Clifford Gardens, as there will be limited capacity for walk-ins dependent on supply at the time.
For the first week, the centre will operate 8:30 am-4 pm, Monday-Friday and from Monday 20 September it will be open seven days a week between 8:30 am-4 pm.
Queensland Health has administered more than 1.5 million vaccinations to date, including more than 120,000 vaccinations in the past week, as more Queenslanders come forward to protect themselves and their loved ones.
