Did you know that we have visiting Specialists at Capalaba Medical Centre ? Introducing Dr Usama Zafar, Upper Limb and Sports Orthopaedic Surgeon. Dr Zafar consults at our rooms one Tuesday afternoon every month. Dr Zafar is an Orthopaedic Surgeon who completed his specialist training in Queensland. He moved to Australia in 2006, working in the UK at the University Hospital Birmingham for 2 years prior. He has worked in a variety of settings, from regional centres to major metropolitan hospitals. He has a broad range of knowledge and experience in Orthopaedics; upper limb and sports surgery are his areas of interest. During his training he gained experience in both trauma and elective operative techniques. Upon finishing his Orthopaedic training, he embarked on subspecialist training in upper limb and sports surgery. For this, he travelled to Sydney and completed a Hand Fellowship at the Sydney South West Hand Service. This gave him exposure to a breadth of trauma and elective hand and forearm surgery, including complicated reconstructive procedures. Following that, he returned to Brisbane to complete a sports surgery fellowship. This fellowship provided comprehensive exposure for the management of all aspects of sports, trauma and arthritic conditions of shoulder and knee. Dr Zafar operates from Holy Spirit Northside, Greenslopes Private and Sunnybank Private Hospitals and focuses on upper limb (hand, wrist, shoulder) and sports (shoulder and knee) orthopaedics as well as trauma cases.

Capalaba Medical Centre is open Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We are closed on Good Friday only. Our usual public holiday fees will apply. Please remember if you have any cold or flu-like symptoms, even if mild, call us before leaving your home. Our regular patients may be eligible for Telehealth consultations.

Capalaba Medical Centre is open on the Redland Ekka holiday, 9 August 2021. Should the current COVID-19 lockdown be extended past 4pm Sunday 8 August, our opening hours will remain unchanged, as we are classed as an essential service. Our usual public holiday fees will apply. Please remember if you have any cold or flu-like symptoms, even if mild, call us before leaving your home. Our regular patients may be eligible for Telehealth consultations.

We have received our initial, limited supply of PFIZER COVID-19 vaccines and are now making appointments for these. We will continue to open appointments as more stock arrives. We thank you for your patience once again. At this stage these vaccines will only be administered to patients aged between 40-59 years or those 18-40 years of age who meet the 1b criteria.

As we are an essential service, Capalaba Medical Centre will be continuing our normal operating hours during this current COVID-19 lockdown. If you have any flu-like symptoms please call 32459600 before entering our clinic. As expected anyone attending the clinic must be wearing a face mask. We appreciate your patience through this time. We are continuing to make bookings for you to have your AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. We are expecting our stock of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines imminently and will notify patients via our website and Facebook page when these arrive.

From midday today the Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine is no longer recommended for people aged under 60. New recommendations from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) about extremely rare but serious blood clots advise the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is now the preferred vaccine for those under 60 years of age. For those under 60 who have already received a single dose of the Astra Zeneca vaccine, it is still recommended that a second Astra Zeneca vaccine be administered to complete the course. Access to Pfizer vaccinations will be expanded to all Australians aged 40 - 59 years. We are expecting to be able to offer the Pfizer vaccine in the near future however at this stage we have no confirmed date of availability. We will update our website and facebook page when stock arrives. For those under 60 years of age who have an appointment scheduled with us for an AZ vaccine, we will be in contact with you shortly.

Our current limited stock of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered or allocated. We are awaiting further stocks which we have been told are approximately a fortnight away. For further updates please monitor our Facebook page and website to avoid unnecessary "phone on hold" wait times. Appointment availability will come and go as vaccine supply intermittently arrives at our clinic. Please note; we are not taking names for future bookings as we are uncertain of supply.

We have received our first delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines. Appointments can now be made through our website https://www.capalabamedicalcentre.com.au/online-booking or by calling 32459600. While these vaccines are currently in limited supply, it is expected we will only receive minimal quantities on a regular basis. We will continue to open appointments as stock is delivered. We understand your eagerness and we ask for your patience at this time. For frequently asked questions about the vaccination please go to https://www.ncirs.org.au/covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-frequently-asked-questions

Qld Health have advised that our COVID-19 and Influenza vaccine deliveries are imminent. As soon as we receive stock we will update our website https://www.capalabamedicalcentre.com.au/blog and Facebook page so please keep checking these. Once the vaccines arrive our online appointments will immediately be made available here https://www.capalabamedicalcentre.com.au/online-booking and also through HotDoc and Health Engine. If you are unable to book online please call 32459600 but note that our phone lines may be congested due to the increased enquiries and web based bookings are usually more time efficient.