Victoria has accelerated its easing of restrictions as vaccine uptake rises.
Premier Daniel Andrews has announced the state is on track to reach its 80% double vaccinated milestone for over-16s a week ahead of schedule on Friday October 29. This means a further easing of restrictions, including:
- 10 people including dependents can visit your home per day.
- Up to 30 people including dependents can gather outside.
- Indoor community sport will open for minimum number required.
- Masks scrapped for outdoors.
- Hospitality venues can open for seated service to fully vaccinated people indoors and non seated service to up to 500 fully vaccinated people outdoors.
- Offices may return to fully vaccinated workers, but work from home is still encouraged.
- Beauty salons and hairdressers open to fully vaccinated people.
- All retail may open.
- Early childhood education and care will open.
- All students return to school.
- Onsite adult education resumes to fully vaccinated people.
- Weddings, funerals and religious services return for fully vaccinated people indoors and 500 outdoors.
Victoria is scheduled to hit the 90% vaccine target on on or around 24 November, which will see further easing of restrictions for those that are fully vaccinated, including:
- No limit to number of people who can gather indoors or outdoors.
- Masks not required except in his risk settings where socially distancing is difficult.
- On-site work may return for anyone who is fully vaccinated.
- Hospitality venues can operate at maximum capacity subject to vaccination requirements and COVID safe measures.
- Events may return with no attendee caps for fully vaccinated.
- State significant venues hosting major events will need to have one-off approval of their COVIDsafe venue plan.
However, Premier Andrews has reiterated that the unvaccinated will remain segregated from the community well into 2022:
Andrews warned Victoria’s “vaccinated economy” would remain into 2022, with those who refuse to get the jab excluded from workplaces, venues and major events.
“If you’ve made the choice, I’ll respectfully say the wrong choice to not get vaccinated then you’re at much greater risk of putting really significant pressure on our nurses, on our doctors, on our ambos … their job gets harder because you refuse to do yours,” he said.
“We will retain the vaccinated economy, all those requirements, all those settings, where you only get in if you are double vaccinated.”
This is the polar opposite approach that is being taken in NSW, whereby “proof of vaccination [will be] no longer required by Public Health Order” once the state hits the 90% threshold.
In my opinion, locking the unvaccinated out of society after 90% vaccination has been achieved is overly heavy handed and unnecessary. Vaccination doesn’t stop the spread of the virus (just look at Israel, which is highly inoculated with Pfizer). Rather, vaccination only protects against serious illness and death.
Those that are double vaccinated should, therefore, not fear or ostracize the unvaccinated, as they are protected. And Daniel Andrews’ argument about “putting really significant pressure on our nurses, on our doctors, on our ambos” equally applies to risky behaviours like smoking, drinking and drug taking. Yet those people are not excluded from society.
At some point Victoria needs to come together as one. I believe the “vaccine economy” should end at the 90% threshold, just as it will in NSW.
Disclosure: Everyone that is eligible in my family is fully vaccinated with Pfizer.
