The Queensland Resources Council has supported state Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young’s decision to include fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers in a new priority vaccination list.
Queensland is in the process of preparing a vaccination hub at Brisbane Airport following an outbreak of COVID-19 which led to the state going into lockdown.
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) will have the Brisbane Airport hub up and running as the Pfizer vaccine becomes available.
QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said this was a crucial step in making the vaccine available to FIFO and drive-in, drive-out (DIDO) workers.
“At this stage, Queensland’s vaccination roll-out is driven by the availability of vaccine supplies, which are steadily increasing, but the QRC has made it clear to government that vaccinating resources communities remains a high priority,” he said.
“The QRC will continue to advocate for resources communities to be vaccinated as soon as supplies become available.”
Further measures to ensure the safety of these workers included an increase in COVID-safe practices such as mask wearing, and more cleaning and hygiene regimes.
“These changes, coupled with the remarkable work of Queenslanders during this lockdown will bolster our efforts to get on top of the latest outbreak,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
The updated priority list also included school staff and childcare workers, in an effort to contain the state’s outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta strain in regional areas.
Macfarlane ensured people that the QRC was doing everything it could to maintain safe workplaces for the resources sector.
“The QRC is in constant contact with all relevant government agencies to ensure the sector is doing everything it can to keep the industry’s workforce and regional communities safe from COVID,” he said.
There were more than 150 active COVID-19 cases in Queensland at time of writing.