Vaccine rollout for 12 to 15-year-olds welcome

Transcript: AMA Queensland Council of General Practice Chair, Dr Maria Boulton, 4BC Weekend Breakfast with Bill McDonald, Saturday 28 August 2021

Subjects: COVID vaccines for teenagers, Wellcamp quarantine centre

BILL MCDONALD:   Yesterday we heard the news that children aged between 12 and 15 have been added to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout after ATAGI recommended they be given the Pfizer shot. So, come early September, children over the age of 12 are going to be able to book in for the jab. To break down all the latest with the vax rollout, I have the Chair of AMA Queensland’s Council of General Practice, Maria Boulton, joining me on the line. Good morning to you Maria.

MARIA BOULTON:   Good morning Bill.

BILL MCDONALD:   Thanks for waiting on the line. This is great news, considering the Delta variant’s so contagious and we know kids can just as easily catch this strain that spreads like wildfire. It is good news, isn’t it?

MARIA BOULTON:   Oh, look, it is, and as a parent of children in that age group, I’m very excited. And our phones have already started running hot. I think it is great news. We always do follow the ATAGI advice. We do ask parents to be patient, though. Bookings are open from the 13th of September and then, from the 15th of September, that’s when the federal government has said that that’s when we can begin vaccinating kids.

However, we please, please ask that if your GP clinic has online bookings, please book online, and please, please be aware that we just cannot fry our phones. We need those phone lines open for people who have medical issues, so if you can book online for your vaccine, please do that.

BILL MCDONALD:   And I should say, if anyone’s got a question, if you’re listening this morning, related to COVID and the vaccines for Dr Boulton, please give us a call on 131 873 right now. And I hear there’s also talk of using not just your family GPs, as you’ve mentioned, but schools as well as the vax hubs for kids. Is that right?

MARIA BOULTON:  Yes, I’ve heard that they’re thinking about it. I haven’t heard anything official. At the moment it is just the GPs.

BILL MCDONALD:   Okay. How is Queensland going generally with the vaccination rollout - I was talking about it earlier- we have enough doses to open up the eligibility bracket?

MARIA BOULTON:   Supply has always been an issue. Demand still outweighs supply. We have been told that there’s more vaccines coming out through September and October, and definitely we’re putting as many vaccines as we get into our fridge into people’s arms.

BILL MCDONALD:   You heard me mention there before, a little bit critical of the Premier’s decision to announce this week the new quarantine facility. Does Toowoomba firstly – before getting your opinion on that, what is the message that it sends to the community to encourage vaccination, to speed up the vaccination rollout, I guess? Is it sending out a message that’s contrary to that?

MARIA BOULTON:   I don’t think so. I think it will be a little bit of time until we get to the 70,80 per cent vaccination rate that the government’s going on about. But the issue we have – and look, we do welcome, we think that quarantine facilities should have always been purpose-built, there were some issues with hotel quarantine – but I guess we’ve got a few concerns with the Toowoomba quarantine facility. We know that the regions have issues with staffing, and we would like for the local doctors to be consulted as to what staffing arrangements will be, because we know that all the regions have issues with doctors and nurses etc and we’re not sure how it’s going to be staffed.

BILL MCDONALD:   Would you have thought that that would be something that would have been taken into account and consultation would have occurred with the resources around Toowoomba, and the hospitals and medical facilities and abilities to cater for that?

MARIA BOULTON:  Absolutely. It makes perfect sense.

BILL MCDONALD:   Why wouldn’t it have been? Is it an oversight from the government?

MARIA BOULTON:  I don’t know. I’m a GP and sometimes a lot of decisions, we find from the media, which is very, very frustrating, and it doesn’t help anyone.

BILL MCDONALD:   Yeah, it sounds a bit like 50-50 as to whether people living in Toowoomba are even for this facility. Do they have enough staff, do you think, if things escalate or there’s a breakout, is there enough to look after sick patients as well as what they may have to care for with quarantine patients that get sick?

MARIA BOULTON:   I guess that’s what we don’t know, and that’s what needs a little bit more – we need more information as to what the staffing requirements will be. And I think they will need to discuss with the people on the ground at Toowoomba as to what they can and cannot provide.

BILL MCDONALD:   Do our existing hotel quarantine sites welcome the news? Would you think they’d be happy about it? I guess this is a political and business question because it’ll be taking away business from them as well.

MARIA BOULTON:   I’ve got a friend who runs a hotel and most of her clients normally come from New South Wales and Victoria. She’s not doing hotel quarantine but I know that they are struggling. I’m not sure how this is going to affect them.

BILL MCDONALD:   Alright, I’ve got a question for you on the line from Darren at Caboolture. Go ahead Darren.

CALLER:   Oh yes, I was just inquiring – the vaccine for epileptics, not for myself but for my partner. I’ve booked in myself, but she’s concerned about getting it because she’s an epileptic.

BILL MCDONALD:   So Dr Boulton, your thoughts on that one?

MARIA BOULTON:   What we recommend is people with any particular concerns to speak to their GP first. However, I haven’t seen any data to suggest that people with epilepsy are at increased risk from any vaccine.

BILL MCDONALD:   Okay, there we go. Thanks for that call this morning. So, generally, are you pretty happy that people are embracing vaccination and starting to get things rolling?

MARIA BOULTON:   Yes, absolutely. At my clinic, we have a wait list of 2000 people. Our local community is really embracing vaccination. Sometimes if they have questions, they may book an appointment with their GP first to discuss further issues, and we tell them where to find the latest evidence-based advice. But we do have a huge waiting list, and that shows how keen people are to get vaccinated.

BILL MCDONALD:   Excellent. Well, thanks for your time, we really appreciate it this morning. That’s Dr Maria Boulton, the Chair of AMA Queensland Council of General Practitioners.