Ms D’Ath urged all Queensland residents older than 16 to register so that booking slots,particularly in regional areas,did not go to waste. “We want every jab going into an arm each day,” she said.

In a later statement,the minister said the new hub would pick up demand from both the Princess Alexandra Hospital and Mater facilities now set to close,and divert the Queensland Children’s Hospital adult program to allow its focus on vaccinating eligible children.

The convention centre hub is scheduled to operate until October 9.

The early Pfizer supply comes on top ofan additional 150,000 AstraZeneca doses arriving in Queensland this week and being directed to GPs and a growing network of community pharmacies now also offering that vaccine to over-60s and anyone younger who gives informed consent aboutthe risk of an extremely rare side effect.

More than 500 pharmacies are now delivering AstraZeneca doses statewide,with that number to grow beyond 700 by the end of this week.

Asked why the state was not setting up mass hubs to distribute that vaccineas the Victorian government announced on Sunday,andalready being offered in NSW,Ms Palaszczuk said “that’s what the GPs and the pharmacies are doing”.

Ms Palaszczuk said the federal government was responsible for vaccinating 70 per cent of the state’s population.

“We’re responsible for 30 per cent and we’re really happy with the rates of vaccination that we’re having now,” she said,pointing tothe national cabinet reopening plan tied to Australia-wide vaccination rates of 70 and 80 per cent of the eligible population.

About 32 per cent of all Queensland residents had received the first dose of a vaccine as of Sunday,with 17 per cent fully vaccinated — behind all other states and territories except Western Australia and NSW.

Pressed on whether she did not think it would be necessary to distribute the AstraZeneca vaccine to under-60s in mass state-run hubs,she said people already had plenty of options,with another likely to arrive in the form ofthe Moderna vaccine from September.

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