Vax lag fears mount
Low jab rates put travel plans at risk
QUEENSLAND’S vaccination rate is lagging so far behind the rest of the country there are fears international travel to the state could be delayed up to 12 months.
New figures from the state’s “Super Saturday” vaccination weekend revealed that 28,000 people received a vaccination.
However, only 11,574 of those were first doses, well behind the 30,284 needed every day between now and Friday in order to hit the 80 per cent full vaccination target on December 17, when interstate borders will reopen.
Analysis shows that on the current trajectory the state will only be 77.47 per cent vaccinated by the 17th.
Based on current rates Queensland will hit its 90 per cent target – when vaccinated inbound international travellers can avoid any quarantine – in January.
But tourism heavyweight Graham Turner is sceptical of hitting that target by then.
“Queensland may not get to 90 per cent for six to 12 months,” the
Flight Centre boss said. “Airlines like Qantas are not going to fly into Queensland without certainty, so it could be six to 12 months before Qantas comes back in Queensland flying overseas.”
Mr Turner said there were around 10,000-15,000 Queenslanders overseas who were trying to get back home but the last thing people wanted to do over Christmas was spend two weeks in quarantine.
“These are Queenslanders who have the exact same status as someone coming from Melbourne or
Sydney, they’re Queenslanders, they’ve been doubly vaccinated, they’ve had a negative test, it is totally illogical,” Mr Turner said.
He also said it might be time the government looked at mandating vaccinations for a larger section of the community to push vax rates up.
“But if they have to do that it is a worry,” he said. “In the end these communities have to accept that many of their vulnerable people could die if not vaccinated and it is, at least partly, their community leaders’ responsibility.”
Deputy Premier Steven Miles on Sunday reiterated his government’s stance that Queenslanders returning from overseas would be forced into quarantine until the state reached 90 per cent – despite other states allowing fully vaccinated overseas arrivals to skip quarantine once an 80 per cent target is reached. “We have outlined our road map, it’s very clear at what threshold people can return and when they will and will not be required to quarantine and we intend to stick to that road map,” he said.