International border to open for states hitting vaccine targets

States that fully vaccinate 80 per cent of people aged 16 and older will be able to resume international travel, as the Prime Minister said a new deal will double Australia’s vaccine supplies for September will speed up reopening.

National cabinet also discussed which other restrictions can be dropped once double dose targets are reached, and considered home quarantine for vaccinated return travellers, but no decisions have been made.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison during Friday’s vaccine update.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

While people from Victoria and NSW may be able to go overseas within months, they will not be able to travel to Western Australia until next year. WA Premier Mark McGowan said he will keep his border shut until well after 80 per cent of the state’s eligible population is fully vaccinated.

In a vaccine swap with Britain, Australia will get a further 4 million Pfizer doses this month, on top of the 500,000 doses from a deal with Singapore announced earlier this week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the UK deal doubles the number of Pfizer doses available in September. Throughout the month, Australia will receive more than 9 million doses of Pfizer alongside 1 million Moderna doses and continued AstraZeneca supply.

“This will enable us to bring forward significantly the opportunity for Australia to open up again under the national plan. The bring forward of these doses, I think, should be a great cause for hope right around the country,” he said.

“The plane’s on the tarmac now, it will be leaving tomorrow and those [Pfizer] doses will be coming over the course of the next few weeks.”

More than 20.3 million doses have been administered across the country so far, and vaccinations continue at a rate of roughly 1.8 million doses a week.

Health Minister Greg Hunt noted the country was 2 million doses away from reaching 70 per cent of everyone aged 16 and over having had first doses, but Mr Morrison would not say when the government expects the same proportion to be fully vaccinated.

“What I do know is that rates of vaccination that we’re seeing means we’re getting close to that every single day,” he said.

“There’s no magic in a day, there’s no health protection in a day. What there is protection in is having reached a level of vaccination in the community”.

In Friday’s national cabinet meeting the country’s leaders discussed what public health measures could be removed once the country moves to the transition and consolidation phases of the national recovery plan, when 70 and 80 per cent double dose vaccination targets have been reached.

The meeting was focused on the revised Doherty Institute modelling, which has informed the Commonwealth’s vaccination targets and plans. The new modelling is expected to be released next week. They also discussed South Australia’s home quarantine trial, and received an update from Jane Halton on hotel quarantine.

The national recovery plan says once states and the country reach 80 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated, the cap on return travellers will be lifted and all restrictions on outbound travel for vaccinated Australians will go.

When asked if he could see that applying to states that reach 80 per cent even if some jurisdictions had not yet vaccinated that many people, Mr Morrison said he could.

“Yes, I can. The national plan sets that out very clearly,” he said. “The national plan was agreed by all states and territories. It’s a plan that is actually going to see Australia open up again and move forward again.”

The plan is not without risks, but the Prime Minister said it was safe.

“It sees a soft opening, as you ease into a more broad opening when you hit 80 per cent. That’s the nature of the plan, and that’s why I believe states and territory supported it – it wasn’t an all-or-nothing plan.”

His comments come after continued disquiet from Western Australia and Queensland about the plan to start relaxing restrictions including state border closures once 70 per cent of the eligible population has had two doses.

Mr McGowan said the state is sticking to its plan of picking a reopening date only when 80 per cent of everyone aged 16 and up has had two doses.

“If we get above 80 per cent two-dose vaccination then we’ll set a date, and it might be six weeks or so [after that],” he said. “[We will] bring down the interstate border with NSW, Victoria and the ACT, when it’s safe to do so, I wouldn’t expect that that would be until next year.”

Initial estimates had the country reaching the double dose vaccination rate targets by the end of the year. Mr Morrison said he believes it will be achieved much sooner, but only if people continue to come forward for vaccinations.

“If you’re booked for AstraZeneca today, go and get it. The best dose you can get ... is the dose you can get today,” he said.

The extra 4.5 million doses of Pfizer in September coming from Britain and Singapore will be distributed on a per capita basis.

That means NSW will get 1,381,344 doses above what it was expecting for the month, federal government figures show. Victoria will get an extra 1,130,905 doses while Queensland will get 875,653 jabs. The ACT will receive another 95,141.

With Katina Curtis

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