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Chairs set out for people to wait after receiving a vaccine dose inside the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre hub in August.Credit:Jono Searle/Getty Images

The pace of first and second doses statewide has also failed to so-far reach thepeaks of the past two months amid authorities’ battle to break through the state’s largely COVID-free status complacency and pockets of hesitancy. A total of 64.1 per cent of the over-16 population has received both doses.

Queensland’s vaccine co-ordinator,police Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy,said while regions such as Mackay had experienced a “good uplift” they were also among tourist destinations people would flock to once quarantine-free road travel for fully vaccinated people out of hotspot states resumed in December.

“The Premier has been clear it is December 17 and she was clear if we get there[80 per cent full-vaccination] before then,we will open up before then,” Mr Chelepy toldSunriseon Monday. “We have got to work harder and Queenslanders have got to get vaccinated this week.”

Brisbane Timesanalysis of council-level vaccination data shows between October 3 and October 31,the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council area outside Cairns reported a 15 percentage point jump in its first dose rate – the highest in the state.

Despite the significant jump,only 46.8 per cent of the almost 2000-strong community have had their first dose as of October 31.

Only Cherbourg – another Indigenous community in the South Burnett region – has a lower first dose rate at 37.7 per cent. This jumped only 7.5 percentage points across the month of October.

Experts have expressed concern about therisk of lagging rates among First Nations communities as the state prepares for virus to begin circulating in the community. Authorities have said lockdowns and other public health measures will be used to react to outbreaks in lower-vaccinated regions.

Some leading regions including Redland and the Sunshine Coast also experienced significant jumps pushing them beyond 80 per cent first-dose coverage. While border-hugging Goondiwindi became the first region to report 90 per cent of its eligible population with at least one dose statewide.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath told reporters on Monday it was “more critical than ever” for people to come forward and get their first dose to ensure had time to be fully vaccinated before borders opened.

“Even at the 80 per cent mark,that still means 20 per cent of our population 16-plus could end up getting this virus and end up seriously ill,now that’s a huge burden on the hospital system,” Ms D’Ath said. Only half of the state’s 12- to 16-year-old cohort have had their first dose.

Asked about the progress ofhome quarantine trials,she said the government was working through how the expansion from November 19 – or 70 per cent full vaccination – would work,but the entry criteria was likely to remain largely unchanged.

While the trial is limited to people living in local government areas within safe driving distance from the Brisbane Airport,which all participants were required to fly into,she confirmed people in regional areas would be able to transit through the capital.

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