As the introduction of the vaccine, or the spout as a Wag recently called it, progresses, when do we start talking about what’s next?
Frustrated business leaders speaking at a Queensland Press Club recently noted that there are behind-the-scenes talks with the federal government about what life is like in a Covid-vaccinated Australia and when might be an acceptable time for the borders to reopen.
An example given to the crowd in the discussion was this: What happens if a waiter gets Covid on the day of a major wedding event in the future?
Does the store have to close or will we trust that all guests are vaccinated for the event to take place?
Another question is being asked more and more frequently to our political leaders: What if everyone who wants to be vaccinated is already there and then there is still a group that does not want to be?
It is based on the continuation of open internal borders, the formation of travel bubbles from 2022 and a possible wider reopening of international borders in mid-2022.
The budget also assumes that we will continue to be successful in containing outbreaks in the community, unless there is a prolonged or widespread lockdown or strong social distancing.
But we are still unclear what exactly our future will look like, even if it is featured in budget papers across the country.
When can we travel again? When can companies import urgently needed skilled workers?
Like a journalist Dr. Jeannette Young, Chief Health Officer, asked: What’s the point of being vaccinated if people are still locked out and unable to travel when there is an outbreak?
Her answer was blunt: « The point of vaccination is to save your own life. That’s why I got vaccinated. »
“We know that if you are personally vaccinated, it is very, very, very unlikely that you will die of Covid infection, but you can still pass it on to other people.
Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk was asked about closed borders at the budget press conference, given the state’s tourism and international student markets, which are still paused despite discussions about how regional quarantine centers could be used to bring in some Pacific Islands students and workers .
« I think it would be a very brave federal government to go this route until a large part of the entire population is fully vaccinated … because there will be a lot of worried people if these borders are opened too quickly.
She said the national cabinet is modeling what vaccination rates population authorities should aim for, with the federal government making a decision on what is safe.
But she pushed for persistent reluctance to get vaccinated, be it at Pfizer or AstraZeneca.
« And if there is this general reluctance across the community, even if the offer is there, you are still not going to hit 70 or 80 percent, » the journalist continued.
« And I hope that there will be a very strong awareness campaign for all of Australia once this mass offer comes in because that was missing from the narrative, » she said.
But suggestions that Palaszczuk may have previously voiced her concerns about using the AstraZeneca jab for people ages 50 to 60, along with the fact that she got the Pfizer herself, can’t do much to help those, too convince those who think about the vaccine.
Neither she nor Young will talk about what’s going on in the national cabinet – although Young says Palaszczuk was very interested in all of the vaccines and had many questions along the way – and Palaszczuk has repeatedly said that she only got the Pfizer because of a dog bite, a Tetanus vaccination, a flu vaccination and a possible willingness to travel to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
They also deserve to be included in a public discussion now about what life with Covid might actually be like in the future.
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