Explained: Everything you need to know about Qld’s Covid road map

Queenslanders will be able to spend Christmas with their interstate loved ones under a long-awaited road map but those who refuse to get vaccinated will face curbs on their freedom. Here’s everything you need to know.

Queenslanders will be able to spend Christmas with their loved ones under a long-awaited road map that could also allow international travel to begin from early next year.

But those who refuse to get vaccinated will face curbs on the freedoms they currently enjoy as authorities warned it was the last chance for Queenslanders to protect themselves before the Delta wave arrived.

The state’s domestic border will be thrown open on December 17 regardless of whether 80 per cent of eligible Queenslanders are fully vaccinated, but could open sooner if people get the jab now.

International travel without home or hotel quarantine will be allowed when 90 per cent of eligible Queenslanders are fully vaccinated - which is expected in January at the current rate.

David Clinckers, who was yesterday picking up his with twins Bella and Tess, 4, from their kindy on the other side of the border, will be glad when the border is fully reopened. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Following months of repeated questioning, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday declared families needed to be reunited and that “we have to give certainty”.

She urged Queenslanders to play their part and dramatically boost the current double vaccination rate of just 56.6 per cent ahead of a worst-case scenario of 1200 cases a day when the borders reopen.

“We have to reunite families, this is fundamental,” she said.

“The faster we are vaccinated, the faster these deadlines will be achieved.”

Ms Palaszczuk called the plan a “sensible and cautious approach” to reuniting families and good news ahead of Christmas, while Deputy Premier Steven Miles urged people to “get vaccinated now” if they wanted the reopening date to be brought forward.

Queensland is expected to hit 70 per cent fully vaccinated on November 19, when people will be allowed to fly in from an interstate hotspot, but will need to be fully vaccinated, test negative and quarantine at home for 14 days.

International travellers will still need to quarantine for 14 days at a government-nominated facility.

At 80 per cent double dose, expected on December 17, domestic borders will reopen without quarantine for fully vaccinated people who have tested negative to Covid.

This date is calculated according to when 80 per cent of people will be fully protected from their second dose – which is two weeks after receiving it.

From then, overseas arrivals will be allowed to quarantine for 14 days at home if they are fully vaccinated and have returned a negative test.

But these dates can be brought forward if people get vaccinated immediately, with the government insisting it was now in the hands of Queenslanders.

The government also left the door open to shorter home quarantine periods for international arrivals, stating any decisions would be based on advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).

At 90 per cent, overseas travel will be allowed without quarantine for anyone who’s inoculated.

Analysis by The Courier-Mail, based on Queensland’s current jab rate, shows the state could hit 90 per cent full protection by late January next year.

But the ability for the state to get to 90 per cent hinges on compelling the vaccine-hesitant – as many as 17 per cent of Queenslanders – to get the jab.

Brisbane Airport Corporation warned international airlines could shun the state before then, with the 90 per cent vaccination threshold “significantly higher” than national cabinet’s road map and other states.

“If a fully vaccinated traveller from Melbourne can come to Queensland and not be required to quarantine once we have reached the 80 per cent vaccinated population milestone, a fully vaccinated person from Los Angeles should also be able to come to Queensland and not be required to quarantine,” it said.

“BAC is deeply concerned that this will see international airlines exit the Queensland market for interstate destinations where they can operate without the profit-killing impost of passenger caps.

“It would be an absolute tragedy, as it would take several years and significant investment to try and recover these airlines and services.”

The Premier lauded Brisbane’s high vaccination rate but warned there were areas with rates so low they faced the possibility of lockdowns even under the plan to open up.

They included Logan, Ipswich, the Scenic Rim, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mount Isa, Mackay and Whitsunday.

While further freedoms will be afforded to the fully-vaccinated, those who do not get vaccinated have been warned they could lose freedoms they currently enjoy.
Exactly what those restrictions placed on those who haven’t had the jab will be is still the source of debate within government.
However, they could be made to continue to wear masks and be made to abide certain density restrictions.
They are likely to be completely locked out of certain places, although which government-controlled facilities might be off-limits, include large sports stadiums, has not yet been decided.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said worst-case modelling showed that towards next year’s expected peak, 1200 people would fall ill and 400 would be in intensive care each day.

But she said she doubted that would happen, and health authorities could manage if it did despite previous daily case numbers not exceeding 100.

Dr Young said if people aged 20 to 39 got the jab, the targets could be reached earlier.

“It’s younger people in that 20 to 39 year age group who probably feel they’re invincible, but you’re not,” she said.

The road map has been welcomed by struggling industries like tourism, with Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind saying industry had been calling for one.

“We have something to aim for now, we know we can have Christmas,” he said.

Agreeing with the Premier, Mr Gschwind said it was now in Queenslanders hands to get the jab.

“Let’s just get on and do it,” he said.

“We need a booster shot for the industry desperately and Christmas could be good for that.”

Cathryn Elsing, who got stuck in NSW after travelling to be with family when her dad died, said she was told she wouldn’t qualify to come home until November 15.

“So opening home-quarantine on the 19th is almost perfect,” she said.

Originally published as Explained: Everything you need to know about Qld’s Covid road map