An infectious disease expert is calling for Queensland health authorities to consider vaccinating children, with young people accounting for more than half the cases in south-east Queensland's exploding Delta outbreak.
The cluster has risen to 63 cases of the highly infectious Delta variant in less than a week and Queensland Health data shows 54 per cent involved people are 19 or younger.
Vaccinating older and vulnerable people remains the priority, but James Cook University professor Emma McBride says the strategy should be revised.
"It's a different strain, it has different properties, and one of the things that it can clearly do is circulate amongst children," she said.
"Even if children are somewhat less likely to acquire or transmit COVID, they can still sustain that transmission amongst themselves, even with vaccinated adults.
"Do we have to think about [reducing] the age of vaccination of children even further?"
Teens 'know the drill'
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.
University of the Sunshine Coast psychology professor Rachael Sharman said teenagers were the most mentally prepared age group to receive mass vaccinations.
"They've been vaccinated a few times through the schools — they know the drill," she said.
"I think you'll find the teenagers, being the very social sort of peer-obsessed people that they are, will just basically want to do whatever their friends are doing."
'Your child will bounce off you'
More than 400 students from three Sunshine Coast schools underwent surveillance testing this week in an attempt to uncover the missing Delta strain link that triggered the lockdown.
On Tuesday, a Sunshine Coast mum said her primary school children waited four hours to get tested at Nambour.
Dr Sharman said parents should take a proactive approach when talking to their young children about COVID-19 and testing.
"The first thing to remember is that your child will bounce off you — so if you're nervous or you're displaying signs of anxiety, that that's going to rub off on them, so try to keep very calm about this," she said.
Anxiety on the rise
One in four children aged one to five displayed higher than average levels of anxiety symptoms during the pandemic, according to the COVID-19 Unmasked Survey, a national study by Children's Health Queensland.
Dr Sharman encouraged parents to prepare for a COVID test like a long drive.
"Bring books, bring colouring in, bring activities, you know — don't just have the poor kiddie sitting in the car waiting for two hours, because your life's going to go to hell very quickly.
