A senior health official in Australia says the country is unlikely to fully reopen its borders in 2021 even if majority of population gets vaccinated.
Department of Health Secretary Brendan Murphy predicts that even if most of its population receive the vaccine this year as scheduled, Australia is unlikely to fully reopen its borders in 2021.
Dr. Murphy initiated the early closure of the country's borders last March.
Not fully reopening
Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. the Australian health secretary said: "I think that we'll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions. Even if we have a lot of the population vaccinated, we don't know whether that will prevent transmission of the virus."
He added that he believes quarantine measures for travelers will be maintained "for some time". Currently, only citizens, permanent residents and those with exemptions are allowed to enter the country upon completion of a 14-day hotel quarantine at their own expense.
Dr. Murphy's comments is expected to disappoint airlines hoping for travel to and from Australia to resume as early as July of this year. Earlier this month, Australian national carrier Qantas reopened its booking after stating that it expects international travel to "begin to restart from July 2021."
However, the airline emphasized that this would depend on the Australian government's decision to reopen its borders.
Travel bubble with New Zealand
Last December, it was announced that the New Zealand travel bubble with Australia will take effect in the first quarter of 2021 following coronavirus pandemic lockdowns.
According to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the cabinet agreed in principle for the trans-Tasman, quarantine free New Zealand travel bubble with Australia, and no changes in circumstances of either country.
"It is our intention to name a date … in the New Year once remaining details are locked down," Ardern said during a news conference in Wellington.
New Zealand has removed the virus within its borders by imposing a strict lockdown and shutting down its borders to foreigners for the most part of the year.
Ardern added that ensuring safe travels requires more work, and New Zealand must be careful in finalizing arrangements like managing airline crew, segregating travelers, and more.
"Of course we want to progress on these issues including quarantine-free travel but we haven’t taken risks before as that means New Zealanders won’t be able to keep their freedom and I certainly don’t want to take those risks right now," Ardern said.
A trans-Tasman travel bubble has been in talks for months and several Australian regions have allowed New Zealanders to enter without quarantine since October, but New Zealand had not made a similar move.
Australian restrictions
Aside from New Zealand, the Australian government is also considering travel bubbles with other low-risk places such as Taiwan, Japan and Singapore.
So far, Australia has reported around 22,000 Covid-19 cases and 909 deaths. and on Monday, it recorded zero locally transmitted infections. Australia closed its international borders early in the Covid-19 pandemic and only allows returning Australian citizens to arrive in the country.
While these measures have been commended, they have also been criticized for causing families to separate across state borders and damaging businesses.
Dr. Murphy pointed out that overall, Australia's virus response had been "pretty good" but he believed it could have introduced face masks earlier and done better in protecting aged care homes.
