People are being turned away from walk-in vaccination clinics in droves amid a surge in demand for booster shots, which have been heavily promoted by authorities.
Many GPs and pharmacies on the Sunshine Coast are also out of stock and not taking new bookings until January or early February.
The Federal Government’s online booking system shows most medical centres and pharmacies on the Coast don’t have openings for weeks for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
The difficulty in getting a vaccine as COVID cases rise and thousands of people cross the border has led to frustration and anxiety.
Authorities and health experts are continuously pushing for Australians to get their vaccinations and not delay a booster over Christmas.
But on the Coast, people have been turned away multiple times after trying to join long queues at numerous walk-in pop-up clinics, and have had no luck after phoning around to doctors.
At the Landsborough pop-up centre in Peace Park on Tuesday, nurses shut down the queue and sent people home only 15 minutes after it officially opened at 9am.
For those lucky enough to make the cut, they were warned of a two-hour wait in the summer heat as only two nurses were on site for the hundreds of people who had turned up before opening time.
The only other pop-up clinic on the Coast on Tuesday was at Sunshine Plaza in Maroochydore and it stopped taking new bookings, with a sign outside advising “we have reached our capacity today”.
A clinic at Kawana Shoppingworld was also turning people away last week.
A spokesperson for the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service (SCHHS) said the service did not have a vaccine shortage.
“Across Queensland, pop-up vaccination locations have been placed in areas to provide easier access for residents to receive their vaccine, and in areas where there has been a low vaccination rate,” the spokesperson said.
“This has been a successful strategy in our region with each of our local government areas now having a vaccination rate of more than 80 per cent.”
One woman who was queued at Landsborough on Tuesday said it was her third attempt at getting her first jab.
Previously, she had been knocked back at Kawana Shoppingworld and had given up on a three-hour wait at the Landsborough train station because she was with her seven-year-old son.
Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article
Errol Shearsby, who was waiting in line for a booster so he could visit family in Melbourne, said he had tried to get a booking online “all up the Coast from Buderim, Sunshine Coast hospital, everywhere”.
“I looked online and couldn’t get an appointment,” he said. “If it takes all day (in the queue) so be it. They said it could be another two hours. Just got to be patient.”
Another couple, Michelle and Jack Winson, had driven nearly an hour from Sandy Creek and said they wanted their booster as a precaution because they would be spending Christmas in Noosa.
“We were hoping it wasn’t going to be busy (at the pop-up clinic). We thought we’d just sneak in at opening and get straight in, but it’s busy. They just closed the line because there’s a two-hour wait,” said Mr Winson.
“They should just have more walk-ins all over the place. It’s not as if this was a surprise that everyone’s going to need to get their booster.”
Sunshine Coast Local Medical Association president Dr Roger Faint said there was a major supply issue on the Coast, with GPs almost completely out of Pfizer.
His own surgery ran out of Pfizer about a week ago and was waiting on a special shipment to arrive Thursday for 60 people who were booked in.
Dr Faint said the decision to cut booster wait times from six months to five months had overnight generated a wave of demand, coupled with the panic caused by the fast spread of Omicron and borders opening.
“I’ve spoken to many patients and my nurses and no one has got any vaccine. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing,” he said.
“People are frustrated and they’re coming forward to get done as recommended…and they just can’t get any.”
Dr Faint said Queensland Health needed to step up its vaccination rollout by opening bigger centres staffed with more nurses.
“I don’t know what the point of a pop-up is. They’re better off having a place that stays open for a month,” he said.
“They just need to have more large community clinics that just stay open with lots of staff.
“You need a hall where people can sit around for 15 minutes and lots of people can get a vaccination, and it’s just not happening.
“I think they just need to ramp it up quickly which I’m assuming they’re trying to do.”
Dr Faint said it didn’t make sense that the main vaccine hub at Caloundra’s Indoor Stadium was shut down right when the borders were opening and demand would likely surge.
“I don’t quite understand that, you would have thought they would know the borders were opening and there would be increased demand levels.”
A SCHHS spokesperson urged more people to get their shots.
“We know many people are concerned with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Queensland, and for this reason we encourage those who are now eligible to come forward to receive their booster dose.
“Booster doses are available from five months from your second dose and should this time period fall over the Christmas period this time frame can be relaxed to 19 weeks.
“Booster shots are available at GPs, pharmacies or Queensland Health vaccination clinics.”
