What will it take for Australia s borders to open?
The federal government recently extended the existing emergency period by three months until 17 June 2021, meaning international travel will remain off-limits for those who don t qualify for an exemption until the middle of the year, at the earliest.
A Department of Health spokesperson said the government s expectation is that while COVID-19 continues to pose a significant threat to public health around the world, people coming to Australia will need to undertake appropriate risk mitigations .
While that strategy includes immunisations, they said the government does not view the vaccine as a panacea or a complete substitute for other public health interventions , but rather a supplementary measure.