Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk supports twice-weekly cabinet meetings to work out the nation's COVID-19 response but has doubts about whether the plan is viable.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for more frequent meetings to help co-ordinate the vaccine rollout and other parts of the COVID-19 response.
Ms Palaszczuk says more meetings will ensure everyone is on the same page, but she's not certain state and territory leaders will have time to meet twice a week.
"It's going to be a big task to try and get everybody at the same time, in the same place, because the jobs of premiers are pretty busy," she told reporters on Thursday.
It has now been almost a week since vaccinations were paused in the Torres Strait following new advice recommending people under 50 do not receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the updated advice had disrupted the rollout in the region.
"We were rolling AstraZeneca out through Torres Strait, we now have to change that and make sure that we can bring Pfizer into the communities," she told reporters in Cairns on Thursday.
As well as more supplies from the Commonwealth, Ms D'Ath said extra training would be needed for staff administering the Pfizer vaccine.
"This is a big logistical exercise, we're going from six hubs in Queensland to putting Pfizer into every single hospital and taking (it) out into our remote communities," she said.
Vaccinations in the Torres Strait have been a priority for the government amid a worsening outbreak in neighbouring Papua New Guinea.
"We have to protect this community as quickly as possible," Ms D'Ath said.
"My priority and my preference is to give Pfizer to the whole community."
Meanwhile the premier is continuing to push for a mass quarantine camp in Toowoomba.
Ms Palaszczuk said a camp was needed given the delayed vaccination rollout and the amount of people with COVID-19 arriving in the state from overseas.
The Wagner Group wants to build a quarantine facility at Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba, which would host up to 1000 travellers and 300 staff.
However the project has stalled, with Queensland seeking federal approval for international flights to land at the airport and the Commonwealth calling for more detail on the plan from the state.
"It's a serious issue, it's a serious proposal, but we need an answer out of the federal government. And now that national cabinet's meeting twice a week, I'm quite sure I'm going to have more of an opportunity to raise it as well," Ms Palaszczuk said.
The premier also backs the idea of mass vaccination hubs on principle, but she has previously stressed that such facilities are only viable if there's consistent vaccine supplies.
Queensland relaxed tight coronavirus restrictions on Thursday morning, two weeks after a snap lockdown of Greater Brisbane after two COVID-19 clusters linked to the Princess Alexandra Hospital emerged in the city's north.
While the mandate on wearing masks in the community has ended, face coverings will still be required at the airport and on flights - as happens in other states.
Australian Associated Press
