Though Queensland has recorded its highest number of daily Covid-19 deaths, the state’s Chief Health Officer is very upbeat about the future, suggesting Australia has finally turned a corner in the pandemic.
Despite 24 deaths and 6,902 new cases in Queensland, Dr John Gerrard says the country has developed a ‘wall of immunity’ against Covid, and he particularly thanked young people for playing their part.
‘Clearly there has been a substantial wall of immunity that has developed in the community for a combination of vaccinations, boosters and natural infections, and particularly natural infection in that super spreading group of people in their 20s.’
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer has thanked young people (pictured) for helping develop a ‘wall of immunity’ against Covid
The straight talking medic said Australians need not fear an increase in the virus as the weather cools down in the coming months.
‘I’m sure that (wall of immunity) will create a significant protection going into winter. So whether there will be a substantial secondary wave in winter or not is unclear.’
Dr Gerrard it is not known exactly why Covid is more associated with cooler weather, ‘but epidemiologically we know that is the case,’ he said.
Speaking specifically about his adopted home state, he said ‘there is clearly substantial immunity developing in the Queensland community, both through vaccination and in natural infection’.
Dr Gerrard is also not fearful of there being another strain of Covid, though he doesn’t rule out that it will happen.
‘It’s always a possibility but I’m a glass half full kind of person. I’m very heartened by the level of immunity that we now have in our community.
‘But of course anything could happen. It’s pure speculation about the development of a new strain,’ he said.
Dr Gerrard explained that Covid-19 is ‘a single-stranded RNA virus. These viruses mutate naturally, they change, they alter. And our level of immunity to one particular strain will change over time.
Dr John Gerrard (pictured) is Queensland’s straight talking Chief Health Officer
‘Whether that leads to a substantial, severe secondary wave, we just don’t know.’
Dr Gerrard quickly gained attention for striking a less alarmist, more ‘big picture’ perspective on the battle against Covid after replacing Dr Jeannette Young as Queensland’s Chief Health Officer late last year.
The 60-year-old was inspired to become a doctor by the death of his older brother Stephen, who caught Hong Kong Flu as an 11-year-old in 1968 as the virus spread across Sydney.
Stephen had caught the virus on a school trip when no vaccine existed to combat the flu. Dr Gerrard was six years old at the time.
Vaccinations (pictured) have helped Australia develop a ‘wall of immunity’ to Covid-19
‘That was a life-changing experience for me. I learnt from a very young age what the impact of a surge in a pandemic can do to a health system,’ he told the ABC.
Dr Gerrard was one of the first doctors in Australia to treat Covid patients, including a 44-year-old man who arrived in the Gold Coast in January 2020 from the pandemic’s epicentre in Wuhan, China, before the virus had even been named.
Upon becoming Queensland’s top doctor, he immediately said how vital immunity is.
‘You all have to develop immunity and there’s two ways you can do that, by being vaccinated or getting infected.
‘Once we’ve done that, once we all have a degree of immunity, the virus becomes endemic, and that is what is going to happen,’ he said in December.
Members of the public are seen wearing masks in the Brisbane CBD. Queensland’s top medic said he does not fear a new Covid variant if there is one
