-AAP

Australia’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, Alison McMillan, said Queensland Health was working hard to get the jab to healthcare workers as quickly as possible.

But she conceded the task could take several more weeks.

The Morrison government is aiming for everyone who wants to have the vaccine to receive their first dose by October, far short of initial targets of four million by early April.

More than 541,000 Australians have received their first COVID-19 vaccines, including 259,000 in the past week.

Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, the ACT and Northern Territory have moved in a variety of ways to restrict or outright ban incoming travel from Brisbane, or the state, over the growing cluster.

The NSW border remains open. But Mrs Berejiklian has asked residents eyeing a trip north over Easter to change their plans.

The Brisbane outbreak is also a double blow for non-essential hospitality and tourism companies in Queensland ordered to close just a day after the federal government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme ended.

“It does make you wonder when the government says that we’re ‘not in a race’ for vaccination,” Labor MP Andrew Leigh said.

“It absolutely ought to be treated as a race. The government ought to be sprinting.”

He said Australia remained about 90th in the world in vaccine rollouts per capita, with a third of Queensland businesses are close to hitting the wall.