NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has said NSW will open fully for double vaccinated people by the end of October – that’s 8 weeks away.
The target date is predicated on current NSW vaccination numbers, which are running at about 150,000 per day, and have put 70 per cent full vaccination targets squarely in the NSW government’s sights.
Restrictions for unvaccinated and partly vaccinated people are likely to remain in place but Berejiklian did not comment on what these restrictions might be. Other considerations are likely to be breakthrough infections in the vaccinated, which have been experienced in high vaccination countries like Israel and the UK, as well as management of boosters.
Other Australian states, as well as NZ, all of which are battling to keep COVID-19 Delta at under control while ramping up vaccination numbers, are likely to follow a similar path out of existing lockdowns – in some ways the more successful their existing bubbles, the harder this process will be.
The NSW Premier said the state will hit 80 per cent double dose vaccination during December, which will allow Australians outside the state to return home for Christmas. Current vaccination rates suggest the state could be closer to 90 per cent by the end of December – 90 per cent is the golden number preferred by health experts before widespread reopening.
ACT is tracking NSW very closely and may open before the end of October, and while Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, said he remained hopeful the state could open before similar vaccination targets were met, Victorians have just been hit with another extension of the existing lockdown – their 6th lockdown since the pandemic began.
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