Finally, we’re living with Covid with vaccine for all by the end of 2021

All Australians would receive a jab by the end of next year under a plan aimed at driving states to drop border restrictions by Christmas.

\Scott Morrison in Canberra on Friday. Picture: Sean Davey

All Australians would receive a COVID-19 vaccination by the end of next year and national contact tracing would be boosted to withstand outbreaks under a Morrison government plan aimed at ­encouraging the states to drop all border restrictions by Christmas.

Healthcare workers, quarantine guards, indigenous people and the elderly would be first in line for a COVID-19 vaccine as part of the national cabinet plan but vaccination would not be mandatory.

As Scott Morrison urged all states to open by Christmas, he ­released a review of the national contact tracing system that called for quicker testing and for states to create a digital system to share information instantly in the case of an outbreak.

The moves to bolster the system came as Queensland and Western Australia continued to frustrate efforts to open the economy. While South Australia pledged on Friday to open up to Victoria by December 1, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refused to lift her state’s border restrictions despite two weeks of no cases in Victoria and a capacity crowd allowed into Suncorp Stadium for Wednesday’s State of Origin decider.

Western Australia has also rejected any reopening to NSW or Victoria under the national framework, with Premier Mark McGowan calling the December 25 timeline unwise.

With the nation recording two cases of community transmission of COVID-19 this week, Scott Morrison declared the nation was on track to “open by Christmas” as he unveiled a national vaccination blueprint and an extensive review of contact tracing regimes by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel.

Vaccines are expected to be available by March after the government secured access to nearly 135 million doses of four leading vaccine candidates that will be rolled out free of charge for all Australians, permanent residents and most visa holders. Take-up will be encouraged, but not made mandatory.

Speaking after the 31st meeting of national cabinet, the Prime Minister said the contact tracing review would put the “protections in place to keep Australia open”. It recommended states commit to faster COVID-19 testing and notification systems, with results made available within 24 hours and potential contacts notified within two days of the test.

Mr Morrison said he would ­forward a copy of the review to US president-elect Joe Biden and make a copy available to “assist whoever, wherever they are in whatever country to learn from Australia’s experience.”

He also warned that the lack of alternatives to hotel quarantine and existing caps on internat­ional arrivals would stall plans to bring in thousands of foreign students, arguing the government had no choice but to “use every available place to get Australians home”.

“The ability to move and take international students back at this time through quarantine arrangements does not present itself,” Mr Morrison said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Friday there was no medical reason for “any state or territory to be closed to any state or territory”.

“We are an island sanctuary, but we are one single country and the medical advice to us is absolutely clear,” Mr Hunt said.

“That means that family can potentially reunite, whether it’s for weddings, for birth, whether it’s for funerals, whether it’s just simply for Christmas or common humanity.”

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox urged the states and territories to beat their Christmas deadline to reopen, saying it was “not exactly a stretch target the states have set themselves”.

He also dialled up pressure on Mr McGowan for isolating Western Australia, arguing that it was increasingly difficult for industry. “WA business report increasing frustration at missing opportunities interstate,” he said.

“It is getting to the point that some workers are basically being held captive in the west.

“We all can read the election calendar but hopefully common sense prevails.”

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief ­executive James Pearson said Australians were expecting a “COVID-normal Christmas”.

Mr Pearson added that the reopening framework had embedded health safeguards to stave off the need for any retreat to ­economically damaging lockdowns.

National cabinet’s COVID-19 vaccine policy ensures that the commonwealth is in charge of ­securing, approving and arranging the transit of any successful drugs while state and territory governments are left with responsibility for the rollout of the workforce.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said “vulnerable people” and “those at highest risk of transmission” would be on the priority list for early access to the vaccines.

According to the policy, this includes health and aged care workers; other care workers, including disability support workers; and people in other settings where the risk of virus transmission is increased, which may include quarantine workers.

Also on the priority list were: those who had an increased risk, relative to others, of developing severe disease or outcomes from COVID-19 including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, older people and people with underlying select medical conditions; and those working in services “critical to societal functioning including select essential services personnel and other key occupations”.

The Morrison government has secured access to four trialled drugs: the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the University of Queensland/CSL vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine, and the Novavax vaccine

Mr Hunt said the four vaccine options could see every Australian vaccinated by the end of 2021.

“Our distribution process is set up to achieve that,” he said.

Federal authorities will be in charge of a national communications campaign to convince Australians to take up the vaccine and the clinical governance of the drug rollout.

State bodies will set up vaccine rollout sites and ensure vaccine workers are following health and safety obligations.