The definition of what it means to be “fully vaccinated” could be set to change with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews indicating a national cabinet decision could be imminent.
Australians wanting to be considered fully vaccinated would be required to have the booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, making it three jabs in total.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters as students return to the classroom, the third dose has “never been more important”.
“The third dose has never been more important. Particularly as we head towards the first day of school,” he said.
“Hopefully confirmation of both ATAGI and national cabinet today will mean everyone knows this is a three-dose project.”
The change could also have ramifications for entering venues and events.
“I think it will very soon be three doses to get the green tick,” Mr Andrews said.
National cabinet will on Thursday afternoon meet to discuss supply chain and health system capacity issues.
After more than 700 days since Australia last welcomed international tourists, industry leaders are calling on the Prime Minister, premiers and chief ministers to pave a path to reopening.
Expanding the list of essential workers exempt from close contact isolation, the return to school, the nation’s booster program and child vaccination rollout are also expected to top the afternoon’s agenda.
The impact of tens of thousands of new Covid-19 cases and dozens of deaths each day on the nation’s hospital system will also be discussed.
There are increasing calls for the country to commit to a plan of reopening to international tourism, after the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry made a public plea to restart the struggling tourism sector.
Chief executive Andrew McKellar said the government needed to “get ahead of the curve” and start engaging with industry.
“We understand that at the moment with the Omicron surge it might not happxjmtzywen immediately, but we do think in the weeks ahead, as we get past it and the pressure comes off the health system, we hope, and really the health rationale for keeping these international border restrictions in place can be revisited … quickly,” Mr McKellar told ABC Breakfast.
“We have to plan right now, and realistically it is something that we can do in the near term.
“We understand that that may still be a few weeks away, and we hope that the Omicron wave will abate fairly quickly from here, but we have to look forward and we have to say, ‘well, what are the criteria for removing those border restrictions? How are we going to do that? What are the other things that the industry will need to get itself back on its feet?’
“In the meantime, if we are going to keep those businesses shuttered, then what sort of support will we need to have in order to ensure that the industry can be there when the doors are open.”
Meanwhile, supermarket shelves are now somewhat better stocked than they were before national cabinet agreed to exempt supply chain workers from isolation if they are deemed a close contact, but there is a push for that to be expanded.
Isolation requirements for transport, freight, logistics and non-public-facing healthcare workers, emergency services, teachers and childcare workers have already been eased.
National cabinet will hear an update on the country’s supply chains from Joe Buffone, amid growing calls for those exemptions to be extended to all retailer workers and warehouse distribution centre workers.
Rapid antigen tests and the country’s healthcare systems are also expected to be high on the agenda.
Last week, Victoria called a Code Brown. No other state has followed suit, but each is expected to provide an update to fellow premiers, chief ministers and the Prime Minister on Thursday.
