Victoria drops major overseas travel hint - NEWS.com.au

Thanks to its surging vaccination rate, Victoria is preparing to open up - and a big change to international travel is one perk that’s on the table.

Victoria will start to emerge from lockdown later this week, as vaccination rates surge and locals yearn for freedom.

Premier Dan Andrews is looking at a number of perks to reward the state for its massive uptake of Covid vaccines, with international travel already on the table.

Speaking to Sunrise this morning, Mr Andrews said Victoria would likely scrap hotel quarantine soon for vaccinated Australians, but removing any and all quarantine, like NSW will do from November 1, isn’t happening just yet.

Mr Andrews told the breakfast program he was working with the federal government to streamline Victoria’s quarantine system for fully vaccinated Australians.

“What (NSW Premier) Dominic (Perrottet) announced the other day is he is getting rid of hotel quarantine, we will do a similar thing, it will be home-based – particularly for those who are double dosed,” Mr Andrews said.

“With international borders, that is a matter for the federal government.

“We want to get open and open to the world as fast as you possibly can and because we will be one of the most highly vaccinated places, certainly NSW and Victoria, anywhere in the world, that can become a competitive advantage for all of us.”

Mr Andrews said the 14 days in quarantine would also soon be a thing of the past.

“We will do (home quarantine), not 14 days, it will be less,” he said.

“If you are double dose vaccinated you will be able to quarantine at home and hotel quarantine will be a thing of the past.”

The international travel discussion comes as Victoria is just days away from reaching a new vaccine milestone, with Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar saying there has been a surge in second dose vaccinations.

“We are hurtling towards our 70 per cent and 80 per cent double dose targets. The pace is increasing, following the announcements yesterday we saw a rocketing of double dose bookings - 31,000 bookings (Sunday),” he said.

“If you haven’t booked in your second dose appointment please join the thousands getting the second dose is today and tomorrow and during this week. The quicker we get the second doses the quicker you complete your vaccination journey and have that protection and the quicker the state gets to those 70 per cent and 80 per cent thresholds and we will start to see what lies beyond some of those dates.”

Mr Andrews announced a raft of restrictions would ease from Thursday night, including an end to Melbourne’s lockdown.

“We have more case numbers than we would like,” he said.

“(But) the acuity of illness is substantially less than we expected. Plus, of course, we’ve reached this 70 per cent rate in record time. Now, single dose is not the same as double, but it does provide a significant degree of protection.”

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2021-10-18 01:56:04Z
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