Locked-down Sydney residents could enjoy a beer at the pub as soon as next month if the double-dose vaccination rate hits 70 percent, under an official “roadmap to freedom” released yesterday.
Officials in the eastern state of New South Wales (NSW), which includes Sydney, said that stay-at-home orders would be lifted for fully vaccinated people once the interim COVID-19 vaccination target for adults is reached.
The roadmap gave no date, but the current vaccination rate indicates that the 70 percent target might be reached next month.
Photo: AFP
“A meal with loved ones or a drink with friends is just around the corner,” NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said.
After 10 weeks of lockdown, the announcement offers more than 5 million people across Sydney a measure of hope — and an incentive for those who are hesitant to get vaccinated.
Hair salons, gyms, restaurants and cinemas could also reopen, and students would return to school from Oct. 25.
If the target is reached in October, Sydney residents would have spent up to four months under stay-at-home orders.
The planned easing of restrictions comes despite New South Wales recording 1,405 new cases yesterday and warnings from doctors’ groups of growing pressure on hospitals.
“When you reopen, you expect an increase in case numbers, but if it’s in the vaccinated population, our health system won’t be troubled by that,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Nearly 39,000 cases have been linked to an outbreak that began in Sydney in mid-June.
Further freedoms are promised once 80 percent of the population is vaccinated — with Berejiklian suggesting that international travel could resume for the first time since Australia closed its borders in March last year.
That came after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged the “sacrifice” and “heartbreak” endured by tens of thousands of overseas Australians shut out of their home country by tough border rules.
The Australian government has also raised creating a vaccine passport, which is set to be rolled out ahead of plans to restart international travel later this year.
However, unfettered domestic travel could take longer, with some states still pursuing “COVID zero” policies and reluctant to allow free movement.
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