TESTING FOR TRAVEL

Travel boss expects Israel and Britain to open borders first as NZ lags with approval

ISRAEL and the UK could open to Australians before NZ because of speedy vaccination programs, tourism bosses say. NZ plans to open to Australians by April, subject to 28 days of no community transmission, but Flight Centre’s Graham Turner said a “Trans-Tasman bubble” may not eventuate until December as Wellington would not commence COVID-19 vaccinations before September.

COUNTRIES such as Israel and even the UK could open up to Australian travellers before New Zealand because of the speedy rollout of their vaccination programs, tourism bosses say.

New Zealand is still planning to open to Australian travellers by April, subject to there being 28 straight days of no community transmission, but Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner said the much discussed “transTasman bubble” may not eventuate “until perhaps Christmas” because Wellington would not commence COVID-19 vaccinations before September.

“From talking to our people in New Zealand … there doesn’t seem to be much appetite for either vaccination or international travel. I don’t think New Zealand is going to allow international travellers in until they’re basically vaccinated,” Mr Turner said.

The speed and efficacy of vaccination in other countries are emerging factors for the federal government in determining when to open borders.

A Health Department spokesperson said that country risk assessments were undertaken by the department in collaboration with DFAT and the Chief Medical Officer.

“The Chief Medical Officer assesses each country individually, looking at a number of factors including overall case numbers, the ability to detect and manage cases to prevent further infection, and also their own border controls,” the spokesperson said.

“A country’s vaccination rollout may be a consideration in the event of a vaccine or vaccines becoming available.”

Mr Turner said it was a bit “left field”, but he thought the UK could end up being one of the first countries open to Australian travellers, despite the massive spike in cases there.

“Because of their high infection rate and their fast vac

cination program, they will have this under control, some sort of significant herd immunity, ahead of most countries,” he said.

Israel would likely be the first country to open because its vaccination program was already well advanced, Mr Turner said.

Israel has already vaccinated one quarter of its population – far more than any other nation – with a goal of vaccinating all citizens over the age of 16 by the end of March.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have also made significant progress, but emerging doubts about the efficacy of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine they are using will likely prove a complicating factor. (One recent Brazilian study rated Sinovac’s efficacy at just 52 per cent.) Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO) chairman Dennis Bunnik said the opening of borders would be led by risk and vaccination rates.

“(This means) Israel could open before countries closer to home as they currently lead the world in terms of vaccine rollout. Despite all the talk of New Zealand travel bubbles over the past eight months, I think this will continue to be a slow process as their government remains very cautious, despite the damage this is causing their own tourism industry as well as those of nearby island neighbours.”

The Tokyo Olympics, due to open on July 23, would be “one of the first big tests of opening up international borders for Australia”, Mr Bunnik said.