This means the state is on track to reach the government’s ‘world leading’ ambition of having 95 per cent of citizens fully vaccinated.

After a week of daily case numbers below 300, the tally jumped by 118 to 308 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday.

However, NSW’s high vaccination rates appear to be protecting it from cases spiralling in hospitals, with 302 COVID-19 patients in hospital and 64 of them in intensive care – down four on the previous day.

The latest vaccination rates released by the federal government show 89.05 per cent of people over 16 are fully vaccinated and 93.78 per cent have had one jab.

Meanwhile, more than 20 million COVID tests have been processed since the beginning of the pandemic.

That’s almost 2.5 tests for everyone in the state as health authorities have constantly urged people to get tested at the slightest sign of symptoms.

Meanwhile, an anti-vaxxer has interrupted the Queensland health minister’s live TV press conference leading to the event being halted.

Yvette D’Ath was speaking to media at the Cairns Esplanade as part of a vaccination drive in the far north of the state when a woman dressed in white with a large sunhat interrupted.

She claimed her friend had died and another had become disabled after receiving vaccine doses on the weekend.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is yet to release this week’s vaccine safety update, so the woman’s claims cannot be verified.

However, the TGA says there have been nine deaths linked to the 34.4 million vaccine doses administered thus far in Australia since February.

D’Ath told the woman she was happy to speak with her after the press conference, but the woman then started shouting.

“Why has it not been reported to people who want to know?”, she yelled. “Why has it stopped being reported?”.

D’Ath tried to quietly reason with the protestor, who was using her phone to film the incident.

“You’ve said enough, explain why Margaret Miles is dead now,” the woman demanded.

“And why the autopsy, they said they can’t show the data if you died from an AstraZeneca.”

D’Ath then stood quietly while the cameras rolled as the woman continued to tell her, and journalists at the scene, to look into the cases of her friends.

She accused the journalists of ignoring the cases “because it’s the ABC”.

The health minister tried to start speaking about driving vaccination rates, but the woman interrupted again.

“Have a look at you, ABC, made by the government, propaganda, communism’s taking over,” the woman said.

Channel Seven and other networks who were livestreaming the press conference cut the feed at that point.

Commonwealth figures on Wednesday showed 78.5 per cent of eligible Queenslanders had had one dose of a vaccine, with 65.3 per cent fully vaccinated.