COVID-19 vaccine to see travellers skip Australian quarantine

Tourists arriving in Australia could soon avoid hotel quarantine if they can prove they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19.

International travellers will likely need to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 if they want to avoid a costly fortnight in hotel quarantine.

Australians and tourists alike would be required to show they had received an approved jab, likely through an internationally recognised certificate attached to their passport.

The federal government is working though the details of the scheme that would only be introduced once doses are widely available across the world, which could be as soon as March.

It would likely follow similar protocols already in place for yellow fever.

Scott Morrison said it would be an “incentive”.

“When there’s been yellow fever and things like that, there’s a requirement that people are vaccinated and if they’re not, there’s been a requirement to quarantine on entry to Australia,” the Prime Minister said.

“Where people have the choice of two weeks quarantine or being vaccinated, I think that will be an incentive.”

COVID-19 vaccines could be widely available across the world from March 2021. Picture: AFP

Mr Morrison said there were still a lot of issues to work through before they could introduce such an initiative, including a successful rollout of a vaccine.

He reiterated vaccination would never be made compulsory and that the government would continue to follow medical advice.

Vaccination will likely be the only way to avoid hotel quarantine next year, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

“We would expect that people coming to Australia whilst COVID-19 is a significant disease in the world will either be vaccinated or they will isolate,” he said.

“The likely course of events during 2021 is if somebody comes to Australia and a vaccine is widely available, either they’ll be vaccinated with verification or they’ll have to quarantine.”

The World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulations would need to be amended to include COVID-19 as a disease for which countries may require proof of vaccination upon entry before it is introduced.

It is believed WHO will consider this early next year, assuming one or more vaccines have been approved.

Qantas has already flagged it will require passengers to be vaccinated before they are allowed onto international flights.

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