Increased supply from the federal government is expected in late September or early October.
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said she contacted the Commonwealth to ask if the state’s August shipment of Pfizer doses could be brought forward.
“We’re supposed to be getting 84,000 Pfizer vaccines a week,each week of August. We would like to bring that whole supply forward now,which means we can ramp up the doses that we’re administering every single day,” she said.
Ms D’Ath thanked the federal government for offering Queensland an extra 150,000 AstraZeneca doses.
Ms D’Ath said GPs had recently received an “enormous amount of calls” from people keen to get AstraZeneca but some doctors were now worried they would run out.
“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... just over 42 per cent of 70-plus have had their second dose.”
Ms D’Ath said she wanted any GP or pharmacist who was eligible to give a flu shot to be allowed to deliver AstraZeneca.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia Queensland acting president Chris Owen said more than 200 metropolitan pharmacies in the state would be able to deliver COVID vaccinations from this week.
Pfizer is recommended over AstraZeneca for people aged under 60 due to rare blood-clotting fears.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has previously declared shedid not want an 18-year-old dying from a clotting illness when they probably would not die from COVID but on Tuesday she said anyone younger than 60should talk to their GP about the risks.
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Brisbane resident Sherwynna Lee received her first dose of AstraZeneca days after the health advice changed for people aged under 60 to have Pfizer instead.
The 30-year-old psychologist said some of her friends told her to cancel her appointment but she decided to go ahead.
“When I went to get the jab,the GP had to let me know the risks and guidelines ... but I’m healthy and felt I had less of a risk with blood clotting,” she said.
Ms Lee said she experienced side-effects with the first dose,and none with the second,and did not regret her decision.
“Whether it’s Pfizer or AstraZeneca,if everybody can get vaccinated that would be the best thing,” she said.
“The quicker we get vaccinated,the quicker we can go back to normal.”
Queensland Health administered more than 10,000 vaccines on Monday,with 18.47 per cent of people now fully vaccinated and 36.97 per cent have received one dose.
Brisbane’s west,which includes some of the hardest-hit suburbs during the latest outbreak such as Indooroopilly,Taringa and St Lucia,has the highest rate of people aged 15 and over fully vaccinated,at 24.5 per cent.