Explained: Restrictions for unvaccinated Toowoomba residents after December 17

Hard-line restrictions will soon be introduced for Queenslanders who do not receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Here’s what life will be like for the Toowoomba residents who choose not to be vaccinated.

Rona Road at Baillie Henderson Hospital for accesss to the drive-through coronavirus testing site. Thursday, 6th Aug, 2020.

Pub lunches, family dinners at restaurants, and visits to tourist attractions will be a thing of the past for Toowoomba’s unvaccinated residents in less than a month.

It leaves a bleak-looking Christmas and summer holidays for those who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

On December 17 or whenever Queensland hits the all-important 80 per cent fully-vaccinated benchmark, a tough new set of restrictions will be introduced that bar unvaccinated residents from all activities that aren’t deemed “essential”.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks during Question Time at Parliament House in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

That is how life will look for more than 25,000 Toowoomba residents this summer.

According to the new State Government mandates, unvaccinated residents will not have access to restaurants, bars, pubs, swimming pools, theatres, cinemas, theme parks, and festivals as soon as Queensland hits 80 per cent.

They will still have access to grocery stores, pharmacies, post offices, newsagents, clothing stores and gyms – all deemed essential services.

The Toowoomba region’s vaccination rates have increased by an average of three per cent every week for the past 11 weeks.

If vaccine rates continue on this same path, 85 per cent of the region will be fully vaccinated by December 17, leaving more than 25,000 Toowoomba residents without the freedoms afforded to those who have been vaccinated.

Seventy-three per cent of the Toowoomba population is fully vaccinated as of Monday, November 15.

Businesses in town are bracing for the new round of restrictions to hit in December, with campaigns launching to prevent business owners copping abuse for following government mandates.

Rona Road at Baillie Henderson Hospital for accesss to the drive-through coronavirus testing site. Thursday, 6th Aug, 2020.

Our healthcare authorities are preparing to stand down those staff members who remain unvaccinated.

Queensland Health confirmed the restrictions were mandated with the safety of the general public in mind, as the state prepares for a flood of Covid-19 cases in a month’s time when borders open.

“When we ease border restrictions, COVID-19 will start to circulate in our community,” the Qld Health site reads.

“To ensure we don’t overwhelm our hospital system when we have outbreaks, some restrictions on unvaccinated people are necessary.

“These restrictions target non-essential leisure activities which are not essential for people to meet their basic needs, but present a considerable risk to contributing to an outbreak in our community when our borders reopen.”