Epidemiologist Greg Dore says fully vaccinated Australians dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
29 July 2021 9:17am
National Cabinet will begin to create a pathway out of lockdowns on Friday to determine how many Australians must be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to end the country’s restrictions.
The pace of the vaccination program at the moment would not see the majority of the state’s population vaccinated against COVID-19 until the end of the year.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday that The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity had sent the Federal Government modelling on the vaccination levels required to end the need for lockdown. The Herald Sun has suggested that the Doherty’s modelling will have different vaccination quotas for older and younger Australia.
Dozens of countries around the world are opening their borders to vaccinated travellers - but Australians who refuse a jab may not be able to get to them.
After months of being shut down due to Covid-19, tourism hotspots including Thailand, the Seychelles and Greece are allowing travellers to enter without quarantine in a bid to kickstart their post-pandemic economic recoveries.
Some countries such as Croatia have even waived all testing requirements if arrivals show proof of vaccination, while others such as Iceland have significantly relaxed their rules for double-jabbed tourists.
Dozens of countries around the world are opening their borders to vaccinated travellers. Pictured: Chiang Rai Province, Thailand
The report says this is is an achievable target if vaccine supply problems are resolved by October. If a vaccine is approved for children aged between two-to-11, the 80% target could be achieved by the end of the year, the authors wrote.
While overall Australia had escaped the worst of the pandemic, the authors acknowledged the heavy price paid to maintain low case numbers.
âWe are shut off from the rest of the world, and we have frequently been locked down to contain outbreaks,â the Grattan report says.
âThe more infectious Delta variant is making zero Covid even harder to maintain. Australians have supported a hard-line approach, but they are also tired and frustrated. National cabinet must now tread a fine line. On the one hand, we cannot abandon our zero Covid strategy too early and risk the calamity we have so far avoided.
Scott Morrison has said he can t guarantee that Australians will be living freely by Christmas and has admitted he should have ordered more Pfizer vaccines last year.
In a press conference on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said lockdowns become a thing of the past when enough people are vaccinated and hoped Australians will be living life differently at Christmas .
But on Thursday morning, Mr Morrison warned he can t guarantee lockdowns won t be needed next year to control the spread of Covid-19.
During a radio interview, 3AW broadcaster Neil Mitchell asked: Do you reckon you can guarantee we will be open by the end of the year?