“ATAGI reaffirms previous advice that in a large outbreak,the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca are greater than the risk of rare side-effects for all age groups,” the organisation said in a statement.

Asked on Tuesday whether that changed her advice,Dr Young stayed fairly close to her previous statements,but admitted that as case numbers rose,it changed the risk profile for all people seeking to get a vaccine.

“This is the time that people who are under age 60 should be talking to their GP about what is best for them as an individual,” she said.

“GPs know their patients and know what advice to give them.

“The ATAGI advice said that when we reach a large outbreak,which I think we’re on the verge of – I suspect it will become larger – that is the time to discuss that with your GP.

“That’s the trigger when the Commonwealth gives us additional resources and also gives financial assistance,so yes,I think that is a very good trigger point.”

Dr Young said she did not believe her comments over the past month had contributed to Queensland having the highest vaccine hesitancy rate in the country,according to a recent survey.

The review,conducted by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and released last week,showed just over 30 per cent of Queenslanders were either unwilling or unsure about getting the vaccine.

That was compared with 14.5 per cent in NSW,23.9 per cent in Victoria and 21.4 per cent in Western Australia.

However,Queensland’s vaccine hesitancy rate has been consistently above those other states stretching back to October 2020,when the state’s unwilling and unsure people made up 25 per cent of the population.

Speaking later on Tuesday morning,the state’s LNP Opposition leader,David Crisafulli,laid the blame for any hesitancy at the feet of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’sbelated decision to get the Pfizer vaccine.

Asked about comments from some of the Queensland-based members of his party in federal Parliament – including Liberal senator Gerard Rennick – who have raised doubts about vaccine efficacy,Mr Crisafulli said he was not aware of the comments but added that vaccination was the “only way to get the show back on the road”.

The federal government is sending 150,000 extra AstraZeneca doses to Queensland to help deal with growing case numbers.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath thanked the Commonwealth for the extra supply,which the state government plans to distribute to pharmacies and GPs to roll out.

“This is really important,because we’ve had a 4 per cent increase in vaccination doses over the last 24 hours,which is incredible,” she said.

“But of our 60-year-old to 69 age group,less than 20 per cent have had their second dose ...[while] just over 42 per cent of 70-plus have had their second dose.”

Dr Young has had her first dose of AstraZeneca,and said on Tuesday she was going to book in for her second dose soon as it had been more than eight weeks since her first,with ATAGI recently narrowing the recommended window between doses of AstraZeneca from 12 to eight weeks.