COVID-19 jabs blow hole in case for restrictions, says big business
Big business has called on leaders at Friday’s national cabinet to commit to progressively removing restrictions.
Big business has called on leaders at Friday’s national cabinet meeting to commit to progressively removing restrictions in line with the national rollout of vaccines over the coming months.
Business Council of Australia boss Jennifer Westacott said that “every time a vaccine is administered, the risks diminish, so it makes sense to phase out restrictions as our vaccinated population grows”.
In a new report, the BCA has laid out a framework for a progressive removal of the restrictions to match the Morrison government’s national vaccine strategy, which projects that all Australian adults will be inoculated against the virus by October.
Ms Westacott called on state and territory leaders to “permanently” reopen their borders and to lift all capacity caps for venues and workplaces by the time 6.8 million vulnerable Australians and high-risk workers are vaccinated under the second of the rollout strategy’s five steps.
“Domestic border closures cost Australia $2.1bn a month,” Ms Westacott said, while more than half of Australians say they won’t travel, “not because of fear of the virus, but because they fear snap border closures”.
The BCA report says that by the time 13.3 million Australians are vaccinated, international borders should be opened to “key” groups (still through hotel quarantine), including returning Australians, skilled and in-demand workers, and international students.
It says the government should “open vaccine corridors with similarly low-risk countries” during the next phase of the rollout, which will conclude with the country’s adult population of 20 million having received a vaccine.
By that point, international borders should be opened to align with the global vaccine rollout, with international travellers requiring proof of vaccination, the report urges.
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