The pandemic has buffeted the Gold Coast, with border restrictions, an ongoing tourism downturn and the absence of international students. It is also set to lose its major surfing event due to issues with its COVIDSafe plan and funding.

But every cloud has a silver lining, and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today confirmed the Gold Coast would be the first Queensland hub to distribute vaccines.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the first doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine have arrived in Australia, with the national rollout to begin on February 22.

“The eagle has landed,” he told told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

More than 142,000 doses are being taken to a secure location and batches will be assessed for damage and quality in the coming days.

Palaszcuk said the Gold Coast rollout would help ensure any problems were resolved before the vaccines were distributed in Brisbane and beyond under a joint state-federal operation.

“Shipments of Pfizer (vaccines) are coming in,” Palaszczuk said.

“They will be making sure that the batches are correct and then towards the end of the month there’ll be a slow rollout.

“We have actually asked one of our senior health officers to go to Canberra to embed themselves in that national coordination centre.”

Victoria remains under lockdown due to another COVID-19 outbreak and continued breaches of hotel quarantine.

Palaszczuk repeated her call for National Cabinet to consider more remote quarantine arrangements to keep travellers and staff out of populated areas.

“This UK variant is highly infectious,” Palaszczuk said.

“We’ve seen a shutdown of greater Brisbane, areas in Perth and now in Melbourne. It’s highly infectious and I think the community would share my concerns that a regional quarantine prospect is a good idea.”

Queensland Health has tracked down some 1500 people who were in the Melbourne danger zone before travelling north, and is also on alert for any travellers from Auckland which is now also in lockdown.

Hotel quarantine workers are considered the highest priority for vaccination because they pose the greatest risk of spreading the virus to the community.

The government expects about 60,000 doses to have been administered in Australia by the end of February.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will receive the Pfizer vaccine early in the rollout in a bid to boost public confidence in the jab.

Hunt said the first vials of locally made doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were also being manufactured.