Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Friday that international travel for Australians will resume next month thanks to rising vaccination rates.
The fully vaccinated, who have had both doses of a TGA-approved vaccine, will soon be able to leave Austrlaia and then quarantine inside their homes on their return for seven days.
“It’s time to give Australians their lives back,” Mr Morrison said.
Home quarantine trials in several states will need to be completed and proven to be sustainable at widespread levels.
“So as I said in the national plan, we will move to a phase where there will be caps lifted if you’re vaccinated,” Mr Morrison said, adding that Australia would move to Phase C of the National Plan “next month” as states hit 80 per cent vaccination levels.
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Australians who cannot be vaccinated due to age or certain medical conditions will be treated as vaxxed.
Travel caps will increase and there will be no restrictions on which countries will be open for travel. The PM said that Australia would be working towards completely quarantine-free travel for countries such as New Zealand.
An internationally recognised proof of vaccination document will be made available in current weeks.
Sydney International Airport will become the first to see flights take off en masse due to the high rates of vaccination in NSW.
“If you receive a COVID-19 Pfizer Comirnaty, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria, Moderna Spikevax or Janssen-Cilag (also known as Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine while overseas, you can register your vaccination on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) when you return to Australia,” the department’s official advice states.
Sinovac, Sinopharm or Sputnik V cannot be registered on the Australian Immunisation Register.