Ministers eye 90 per cent vaccination coverage to lift restrictions on unjabbed - Sydney Morning Herald

Sporting events, regional travel, pubs, restaurants and other functions will likely remain off limits to unvaccinated people until as many as 90 per cent of NSW adults are double jabbed, with crisis cabinet ministers poised to indefinitely limit their freedom.

The state government is due to finalise its road map for 80 per cent vaccination this week amid debate over when to reopen community activities to the unvaccinated.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet argued last week NSW should “open up for everyone” once all adults had been given a chance to get the jab.

However, other ministers indicated resolve in cabinet had hardened against giving freedoms to the unvaccinated at the 80 per cent threshold. Instead, a saturation point of more than 90 per cent was being considered.

People took advantage of eased restrictions to enjoy picnics in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney on Saturday.Credit:Rhett Wyman

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, who is in charge of the ServiceNSW check-in app, said he would advocate for the government to stop using QR codes and vaccine passports only when vaccination had reached “saturation levels”, likely to be 90-95 per cent, hopefully by Christmas.

“Notwithstanding that these are my babies, I will be the first to turn them off,” Mr Dominello said. “The reality is, until we get to that high point, there will be a place for them. But they are only to be used in pandemic situations.”

One minister warned even with 80 per cent of the adult population vaccinated, 1.6 million people would still be unprotected from COVID-19, which could easily overwhelm the health system.

They said regional and interstate travel would be limited for those who were unvaccinated, and questioned whether they should be allowed to attend weddings.

“The other states aren’t going to let people in if they’re not vaccinated,” said the minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “You might be able to catch a Manly ferry, but that’s about all.”

The development comes after Singapore made work-from-home the default and tightened rules to allow only two people to meet in restaurants and other settings amid a COVID-19 case surge. More than 80 per cent of the city state’s population is fully vaccinated.

Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Foley cited Singapore and South Korea as examples of countries struggling to keep a lid on cases despite high vaccination coverage.

NSW reported 1007 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and 11 deaths, including a person in their 40s. The percentage of NSW residents who are fully vaccinated reached 59.25 per cent after 140,000 doses were administered in the state on Friday.

The federal government was due to send immunisation data to the NSW government this weekend, which will allow vaccine passports to be integrated into the Service NSW app.

Mr Dominello said the passports would be ready in mid-October, about a week after NSW’s likely reopening date of October 11 - based on current estimates of when the 70 per cent target will be reached. People will be able to offer alternative proof of their vaccination status to enter venues until their passports were active.

Friday’s cabinet meeting also discussed whether Sydneysiders should be allowed to visit regional NSW before the state hits 70 per cent vaccination, given lower vaccine coverage in some areas.

The decision to revisit those plans has thrown doubt over people’s travel plans. Accommodation bookings in popular destinations such as Byron Bay are already booming, especially in November.

On Saturday, tourism operators called for more vaccine supplies to be sent to regional NSW if their business is to be dependent on local vaccination rates.

Weekenda founder Pete Smith, who runs a short-term accommodation hub for around 150 properties in the Hunter Valley, said the new rules may block guests from visiting the area.

The Hunter region is well below the state’s average vaccination rate with most areas having less than 50 per cent of people aged 16 or more fully vaccinated. In Cessnock just 37 per cent are fully vaccinated and 70 per cent have had their first doses as of last week.

“If they close us down or don’t allow us to open until we get to 70 per cent double vaccinated, then it could be another couple of weeks down the road and that’s tens of thousands of dollars lost for all my owners, and many thousands of dollars lost by our business,” Mr Smith said.

Destination Byron Bay Holiday Accommodation owner Tanya O’Neill said locals had desperately tried to bring their Pfizer appointments forward. “If we’re not being given the vaccines, how can we get our vaccination rate higher?” she said. “But by the same token, is it fair to let the area be inundated? We’ve had so many cancellations in the last few months, what’s a few more?”

Tweed MP Geoff Provest said the redirection of Pfizer vaccines to Sydney had delayed the vaccination uptake in his region by four or five weeks, and although vaccines had become available in the last two weeks, the Tweed was unlikely to hit 70 per cent coverage before the end of October.

Many local people had made use of the border bubble to get their Pfizer jab in Queensland, because NSW supplies had been so scarce. (Queenslanders in the bubble are also entitled to get vaccinated in NSW.)

“They haven’t really been in lockdown so there’s no urgency to go and get it in Queensland,” Mr Provest said.

with Nigel Gladstone

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2021-09-25 19:00:00Z
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