On Feb 21, Australia will open its borders to vaccinated travellers

Australia’s borders will reopen to fully vaccinated travellers on February 21, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, lifting arguably of the world’s tightest and longest-standing pandemic travel restrictions.

“It’s been over two years since we decided to close the borders to Australia,” Morrison said during a Monday press conference.

We look forward to welcoming you back to Australia if you’re double-vaccinated.

In March 2020, Australia closed its borders to protect itself against a growing COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, Australians have been prevented from leaving for the most part, and just a few visitors have been granted entry exemptions.

The laws have shattered families, harmed Australia’s burgeoning tourism economy, and sparked heated discussions about the country’s reputation as a modern, open, and outward-looking society.

Morrison’s administration has gradually eased the criteria for Australians, long-term residents, and students since launching its vaccine programme last year.

Almost all remaining caps will be lifted as a result of Monday’s decision.

The move was “greatly applauded” by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

“The Asia Pacific region has been cautious in its approach to border restrictions so far,” Philip Goh, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, said in a statement. “However, in recent weeks, we have seen growing momentum toward relaxation of travel restrictions – in the Philippines, Thailand, and to some extent New Zealand.”

We encourage other governments in the Asia-Pacific region to consider relaxing border restrictions in a similar way to allow aviation industries to speed their much-needed recovery and offer maximum benefits to their economies.

Tim Soutphommasane, a sociology professor at the University of Sydney in Australia, said the reopening of borders meant Australia could “re-engage with the world.” But, he cautioned, obstacles remain.

We may be witnessing the beginning of the end for Fortress Australia, but the country still has a long way to go psychologically.

As a result of the pandemic, Australia has retreated into thinking of itself as a safe haven, isolated from the rest of the globe. Australia should be confident in reopening because of its fully immunised populace. However, the country is still learning to live with the virus, so there is still a lot of caution and fear.

Australia followed a “COVID-zero” policy for the majority of the epidemic, which included stringent snap lockdowns. However, after vaccines were distributed, the policy was abandoned.

Even as the Omicron strain began to drive up infections, 79 percent of Australia’s population has now gotten two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and the country has moved ahead with loosening limits.

Daily infections and hospital admissions have decreased over the last week, with Australia reporting just over 23,000 new cases on Monday.

This is the lowest daily case count of the year, and it’s down from a high of 150,000 approximately a month ago.

Since the first Omicron case was discovered in Australia in November, there have been around 2.4 million cases reported. Australia had counted around 200,000 instances up to that point.

Since the epidemic began, 4,248 people in Australia have died as a result of the virus.

On Wednesday, Australia’s COVID-19 hospitalisation rate dropped to its lowest level in over three weeks, while a stable pace of daily infections increased expectations that the worst of an outbreak caused by the Omicron coronavirus strain had passed.

After peaking at about 5,400 a week ago, hospital cases declined to around 4,600 on Wednesday, with admission numbers down in all states.

“I think the peaks of Omicron have come through in (New South Wales and Victoria),” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a press conference. Morrison is under fire for his handling of the Omicron wave.

Morrison said he had tasked health officials with assessing the impact on the health system before removing any border restrictions as COVID-19 hospitalizations have stabilized. Last Thursday, Morrison expressed hope that international borders will be fully reopened “before Easter.”

Australia is reopening its borders in stages, allowing only skilled migrants, international students, and backpackers to enter.

Airlines and tourism industries, which have already been hit by a series of lockdowns over the last two years, are hoping for a swift reopening to all visitors.

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