National cabinet: ‘Fully vaccinated’ could soon include the booster; plea to open the border

A huge vaccination change impacting all Australians could be coming, as the PM and state and territory leaders are urged to “think ahead” and open the border.

The definition of what it means to be “fully vaccinated” could be set to change with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews indicating a national cabinet decision could be imminent.

Australians wanting to be considered fully vaccinated would be required to have the booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, making it three jabs in total.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters as students return to the classroom, the third dose has “never been more important”.

“The third dose has never been more important. Particularly as we head towards the first day of school,” he said.

“Hopefully confirmation of both ATAGI and national cabinet today will mean everyone knows this is a three-dose project.”

The change could also have ramifications for entering venues and events.

“I think it will very soon be three doses to get the green tick,” Mr Andrews said.

National cabinet will on Thursday afternoon meet to discuss supply chain and health system capacity issues.

The meeting comes as a senior business figure urged Australian politicians to commit to a border reopening plan that would see the return of foreign tourists.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief executive Andrew McKellar said on Thursday the government needed to “get ahead of the curve” and start engaging with industry.

“We understand that at the moment with the Omicron surge it might not happen immediately, but we do think in the weeks ahead, as we get past it and the pressure comes off the health system, we hope, and really the health rationale for keeping these international border restrictions in place can be revisited … quickly,” Mr McKellar told ABC Breakfast.

“We have to plan right now, and realistically it is something that we can do in the near term.

“We understand that may still be a few weeks away, and we hope that the Omicron wave will abate fairly quickly from here, but we have to look forward and we have to say, ‘well, what are the criteria for removing those border restrictions? How are we going to do that? What are the other things that the industry will need to get itself back on its feet?’

“In the meantime, if we are going to keep those businesses shuttered, then what sort of support will we need to have in order to ensure that the industry can be there when the doors are open.”

National cabinet will also hear an updated a. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

His plea comes after Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox slammed national cabinet as a waste of time, with decisions made not worth the paper they’re written on.

“Agreements are made and then broken by premiers without any major justification,” Mr Willox told Sky News Australia.

“It makes you wonder why they bother turning up to national cabinet,” he said.

National cabinet will also hear an update on the country’s supply chains, amid growing calls for those exemptions to be extended to all retailer workers and warehouse distribution centre workers.

Rapid antigen tests and the country’s healthcare systems are also expected to be high on the agenda, as is how each state and territory health system is coping.

Schools are preparing to welcome back students - except in Queensland and South Australia, where the return has been delayed - with surveillance testing via rapid antigen tests twice weekly in Victoria and New South Wales.

Mr Morrison said last week the medical advice he had received did not support widespread surveillance testing, but the federal government would fund half the cost of rapid tests for students and teachers if states determined such surveillance testing was necessary in schools.

Originally published as National cabinet: ‘Fully vaccinated’ could soon include the booster; plea to open the border