Prime Minister Scott Morrison has conceded it's "highly unlikely" that Australia will be able to return to COVID zero, as he pushes the states to start relaxing restrictions once 70 per cent of adults have been vaccinated.
Key points:
- States and territories agreed to opening borders and reducing lockdowns once 70 to 80 per cent of Australians were vaccinated
- Some premiers have since argued modelling underpinning that plan assumed numbers would be lower
- Mr Morrison said new advice suggested the starting number of cases would not alter the modelling's conclusions
Under National Cabinet's four-phase pathway out of the pandemic, the states and territories will open their borders and use lockdowns more sparingly once 70 to 80 per cent of Australians over 16 are inoculated.
But a split has emerged with some premiers arguing the modelling underpinning that plan assumes case numbers would be much lower than they are at the moment.
Mr Morrison has played down those concerns, adding the Doherty Institute would be providing updated advice to National Cabinet this week.
"The advice we have from the Doherty Institute is the starting point does not ultimately alter the conclusions of the modelling," Mr Morrison told the ABC's Insiders program.
Asked whether Australia would be able to achieve COVID zero again, Mr Morrison said: "I think that's highly unlikely" and added "case numbers are not the whole story".
"The point is that we need to suppress the virus as best as we can in phase A of the national plan," he said.
"The national plan then transfers our focus from case numbers to issues of hospitalisation, serious illness, ICU and things of that nature.
"At 70 per cent vaccination rates and 80 per cent vaccination rates, then Australia is able to move out of what is really an unsustainable situation."
Mr Morrison warned Australia "can't live with lockdowns forever" and that at some point, the states and territories needed to "change gears".
According to the Doherty Institute, which modelled the vaccine targets, Australia has the capacity to achieve 70 per cent vaccine coverage by November 1 and 80 per cent by November 22.
The Institute's Jodie McVernon said Australians were "exhausted by the uncertainty" of the pandemic and that vaccines were "the only pathway out" of restrictions.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese argued Australians were confused about what National Cabinet's plan would actually mean.
"Australians want less confusion and more leadership from this Prime Minister, and yet what they get is boasting, consistently trying to paint a rosier picture than the one that is there," he said.
"The Doherty advice isn't just 'open at 70 per cent', it has some assumptions in there and it's predicated upon low numbers of cases.
"If there's a change in that, then that should be communicated."
So far, nearly 30 per cent of adults have been fully vaccinated with more than 300,000 doses now being administered daily.
All Australians older than 16 are set to become eligible for a Pfizer jab at the end of August, while Mr Morrison is hoping access will be expanded to those aged 12 and over before the end of the year.
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2021-08-22 02:36:59Z
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