Merry Christmas kids, Santa’s bringing you the jab – and reopened borders for family holidays
SA will throw open its borders “within weeks” – and that won’t be the only big Christmas change for families, with primary schoolers becoming eligible for the vaccine.
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South Australia’s borders will reopen “within weeks”, Health Minister Stephen Wade says, but will not be drawn on how many.
And that won’t be the only big change to happen before Christmas, with children aged 5-11 becoming eligible to receive the Pfizer Covid vaccine.
Speaking before the Covid Transition Committee meeting on Friday, Mr Wade repeatedly declined to specify a deadline, but said modelling – also due within weeks – would show the way forward for SA.
On Thursday, a parliamentary committee heard SA would reopen once double vaccination rates his 80 per cent. The state is currently at 61 per cent.
Covid officials implored people who hadn’t been vaccinated to start now, saying it takes two weeks after the second dose for full immunity to begin.
Masks will remain in place for indoor and high-risk settings, deputy chief public health officer Emily Kirkpatrick said. She said SA Health had noticed mask “fatigue” setting in but asked people to continue to wear them.
It comes as children aged five to 11 are expected to start receiving Covid shots before Christmas under SA Health plans, a parliamentary committee has been told.
SA Health deputy chief executive Don Frater told the Covid-19 response committee health officials expect approval soon to vaccinate that age group.
“We’re … preparing for that process to commence before Christmas,” he said.
Deputy chief public health officer Dr Emily Kirkpatrick said the rollout would include schools as well as GPs.
“Vaccination school programs are of course an important component of this and we are working very, very closely with the schools and the Department of Education and independent schools,” she said.
An at-times testy hearing on Thursday was told South Australia will throw open its borders when 80 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated – with no mention of delays until all local government areas reach the target.
Department of the premier and cabinet chief executive Nick Reade, who chairs the transition committee, told the meeting the state’s commitment was part of the national plan to opening borders when the double vaccination rate hits 80 per cent.
But gaps between some areas have widened, with local government areas such as Burnside, Mitcham, Unley and Walkerville well above 70 per cent double-vaccinated while Playford languishes on just over 40 per cent.
The committee was told one reason for areas lagging is ethnic and Indigenous leaders not supporting the vaccination program.
Dr Kirkpatrick said initiatives including this weekend’s sausage sizzle at vaccination clinics will help lift the walk-in rate.
The committee also heard:
THE double vaccination rate now tops 60 per cent and single vaccination rate will reach 80 per cent this weekend, with the goal now 90 per cent fully vaccinated;
AN 80 per cent vaccination rate of eligible people aged over 16 will equate to just 64 per cent of the total population – leaving large numbers unprotected as the virus arrives through open borders
MASKS are here to stay for the foreseeable future in indoor settings
ABOUT 30,000 people who had one shot did not get a second, but this relatively low number means single shot figures are a good indicator of people eventually getting fully vaccinated
WHEN approved, booster shots for people who are double vaccinated are likely to be Pfizer or Moderna even if the person initially had AZ shots, and
THERE have been 18,750 applications for exemptions to enter SA from interstate received; 11,790 have been processed, fewer than 7000 are left and average processing time is now 21 days.
Asked if there would still be contact tracing occurring in a year’s time, Dr Kirkpatrick it was difficult to predict.
SA Health chief executive Dr Chris McGowan noted around 2000 staff including doctors are being recruited and 392 beds are opening in preparation for the open borders.
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