Covid Tasmania: State hits major vaccination milestone as new rules brought in for returning travellers

Tasmania has reached a 90 per cent Covid vaccination rate for those aged 16 and over. LATEST COVID + BORDER NEWS >>

TASMANIA has achieved its latest Covid-19 vaccination milestone, surpassing a 90 per cent fully vaccinated rate in the 16-and-over population.

Premier Peter Gutwein said the mark was achieved on Saturday morning.

The state is on track to reach the same rate in the 12-and-over population in coming days, as Tasmanian borders reopen to all of Australia on Wednesday.

From Monday, parents of children aged 5-11 can book vaccination appointments for their child, with jabs able to be delivered from January 10 after final approval was given this week.

Borders ready to swing open as Tassie nears 90% milestone

Premier Peter Gutwein has confirmed Tasmania will reach an important Covid milestone this weekend, as borders prepare to open to mainland visitors.

Mr Gutwein said 90 per cent of Tasmanians aged 16 or over will be fully vaccinated by the end of the weekend.

Premier Peter Gutwein during the COVID update at Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

In terms of borders and international arrivals, on Sunday the refreshed Tas e-Travel will open for those people looking to travel to the state.

The system will require people to confirm they are fully vaccinated or have a Covid test if they are from a high-risk areas.

“There will not be a blanket state-wide approach, but a targeted approach,” Mr Gutwein said.

“There will be 34 high-risk LGAs across the ACT, NSW and Victoria.”

If visitors are coming to Tasmania from one of those high-risk areas they need to have a Covid test 72 hours prior to travel.

All Tasmanians who travel to any of those high-risk areas will now be required to have a Covid test regardless of how long they spend in that area.

That test will be performed on their return.

Mr Gutwein said there had been no decision made yet on large cruise vessels.

He said small cruise vessels, such as those that traversed Tasmanian waters last season, will be permitted, but there will be restrictions on passengers.

“You have to get on the cruise vessel in Tasmania and get off the cruise vessel in Tasmania,” he said.

“Before getting onto one of these vessels, they must be fully vaccinated and provide evidence of a Covid test 72 hours before departing.”

Mr Gutwein said the state was in a position to safely reopen the borders on Wednesday, December 15, but no decision has yet been made on whether masks will be mandatory.

Publish Health director Mark Veitch warned that “coronavirus is coming”.

He said the measures in place to protect Tasmanians could be seen as “four pillars”.

• Border measures: tough border measures have been in place for many months and will still be quite restrictive, targeting regions where people are more likely to have coronavirus.
• Vaccination occurring and we must push to have the highest level we can achieve.
• Test, tracing, isolation and quarantine, and we will make sure the measures we apply will be appropriate.
• Public health and social measures, including limits to gathering sizes and adopting good hygiene processes.

Mask up, Tasmania

“GET yourselves some masks”.

That’s the advice to Tasmanians ahead of the state’s border reopening next week as the government monitors cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant interstate.

Director of Public Health Mark Veitch said on Thursday masks could be worn in the first few months of opening up.

“My colleagues and I are considering the evidence and the advice about the use of masks and we’ll provide some guidance on that either tomorrow or very early in the week,” Dr Veitch said.

“But my tip would be, get yourselves some masks.

“As of yesterday (Wednesday) there were just over 40 cases of Omicron variant of Covid being diagnosed in Australia, most of them in NSW but a number of cases in the ACT, linked to the NSW outbreak.

“It’s clear this strain spreads more readily than Delta in vaccinated populations, and the evidence is beginning to emerge about some of the mechanisms by which that greater spread may be occurring.

“We’re getting some signals that the immune response from vaccinations maybe less effective at preventing transmission of Omicron.

“I think that makes it even more important that people do get their second dose and also get their booster dose if they’re eligible.”

Dr Veitch said despite the Australian cases of Omicron, Tasmania was still prepared to open its border.

“We’ve been preparing to respond to Covid for nearly two years and we’ve got sophisticated public health responses in place, we’ve got sophisticated health preparedness in place,” he said.

“We’re looking at designation of high-risk parts of Australia as places where people are required to be vaccinated, they’re also required to have tests before coming to Tasmania, so we want to make sure that requirement also applies to people coming from places where Omicron is present.”

As of Thursday, 95.08 per cent of Tasmanians over the age of 16 have had their first dose, and 89.06 are fully vaccinated.

For Tasmanians over the age of 12, nearly 94 per cent had their first dose and 87 per cent were fully vaccinated.

From Monday, parents will be able to book in children aged 5-11 to get vaccinated at clinics that will open on January 10.

“This will mean with school going back on the 9th of February, every child will have had the opportunity to at least receive one dose when school goes back,” Premier Peter Gutwein said.

Public servants must be vaxxed

TASMANIA’S public servants will need to be vaccinated or face termination, Premier Peter Gutwein has warned this morning.

Mr Gutwein said the government was mandating broadly across the State public service with few exceptions.

Workers in the Department of Treasury and Finance who do not interact with the public will be among those few exceptions.

“We estimate more than 90 per cent of public servants are already vaccinated and the people we expect to have to work with individually will be in the hundreds not the thousands.

“Non-compliance could lead to termination and will extend to contractors and volunteers.”

Government Business Enterprises such as TT-Line and TasNetworks are finalising their arrangements with workers.

Premier Peter Gutwein during the COVID update at Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

All ministerial staff and electoral officers will also be mandated to have the Covid-19 vaccine.

The government has written to Labor and the Greens to consult with their staff about the change.

Public health authorities will meet with the childcare sector on Monday to talk about how a vaccination mandate would work.

It is only six days till Tasmania opens its borders to visitors from all Australian states and health professionals, police and the broader Tasmanian community are bracing themselves for the inevitable arrival of new Covid-19 cases.

95.08 per cent of Tasmanians aged over 16 have now had one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine with almost 90 per cent fully vaccinated.

“I am confident we are ready for this,” Mr Gutwein said.

Director of Public health Mark Veitch has indicated Tasmanians should expect to be required to wear masks in public settings soon.“We are considering the evidence and guidance on that and will have more to say tomorrow or early next week. But my tip would be to get yourself some masks,” he said.

Originally published as Covid Tasmania: State hits major vaccination milestone as new rules brought in for returning travellers