HUNDREDS of Redlands children are in limbo waiting for a COVID shot after Queensland Health cancelled appointments for 5-11 year olds at its Capalaba vaccination hub.
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It comes as chief health officer Dr John Gerrard warns it is inevitable there will be a surge in cases when school returns in February, despite a two-week delay to term one.
Queensland Health confirmed about 250 people who had made a booking for their child at the Capalaba hub had been contacted and told to reschedule their appointment at either Brisbane or Logan.
A Metro South Health spokesman said the department was looking to offer vaccinations for the 5-11 age group at additional locations in coming weeks.
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"Vaccinations are available for 5-11-year-old children at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Logan Entertainment Centre [in Metro South]," he said.
"The Capalaba vaccination hub is currently not providing vaccinations for 5-11 year olds."
Queensland Health sent a text message to those with bookings advising them of the cancellations and directing them to book elsewhere.
A woman who contacted the Redland City Bulletin, but asked not to be named, said bookings were dropped just three days before vaccinations opened for the 5-11 age bracket.
Dr Gerrard said parents should not to be too anxious about their child catching the virus when schools reopened on February 7.
"For the most part, the children will have only a mild illness, very similar to any of the respiratory infections they have had in the past," he said.
"There definitely are rare complications of COVID in children, I'm not going to downplay it, but for the vast majority it is a simple respiratory virus."
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said more than 26,000 children in the 5-11 cohort were due to recieve their first dose in the next two weeks.
"It's really critical you take your kids to get their COVID-19 vaccination as soon as you can, so they have a layer of protection before school begins for 2022," she said.
Health data has revealed Redlands has recorded more than 2000 COVID cases since the start of the pandemic, which is a sharp rise on the 32 that had been detected before borders opened in December.
As of last week, Victoria Point had 69 cases, Redland Bay 84, Thornlands 96, Cleveland eight, Mount Cotton and Sheldon 31, Capalaba 71, Alexandra Hills 73 and Thorneside 14.
Rapid antigen tests have been hard to come by in the Redlands and across the south-east, while locals have also reported people being turned away from the PCR testing clinic at Redland Hospital over the last week.
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