The Prime Minister of Australia says the pandemic focus should shift to reopening

SYDNEY, Aug 23 (Reuters) – Australia must begin learning to live with COVID-19 when higher vaccination targets are reached, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, despite concerns from some states about impact of an increase in cases in Sydney.

With more than half of all Australians trapped in blockades for weeks to curb the highly infectious Delta strain, Morrison said the country needed to move forward and start reducing restrictions as more people were vaccinated.

“(Blockades) cannot continue forever. This is not a sustainable way to live in this country,” he said during a television conference in Canberra.

“Because if not at 70% and 80% (vaccination rates), then when? Then when? We have to make this move and we have to prepare to make that move and we have to prepare the country to make that move.”

Morrison’s comments come after differences emerged between states that want to maintain a focus on virus suppression and the larger state of New South Wales, which is looking for a way out of closures through vaccinations after ‘a great outbreak of the Delta.

Last month, the federal government unveiled a four-phase plan to ease restrictions once 70% of its 25 million people over the age of 16 are vaccinated, with “strict” strict blockades. Read more

When vaccination coverage reaches 80%, only “highly targeted closures” would be needed and vaccinated Australians would be free to travel around the state.

The states of Western Australia and Queensland, which are largely free of coronavirus, have indicated that they could still maintain some restrictions even when vaccination targets are met.

They say the national plan, which was agreed before the NSW outbreak, was based on the presence of only small outbreaks in the community.

On Monday, NSW reported 818 cases, most in Sydney, slightly below the 830 record a day earlier.

NSW Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian urged people to focus less on cases and more on launching vaccination.

“Once you get to 80% of the double dose, all states will have to live with COVID. Delta can’t be kept out forever,” he said.

In Melbourne, Victoria, 71 new cases were detected and 55 had spent time in the community while they were infectious, something state Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said could derail plans to close the closure on September 2. .

Although Australia has handled the pandemic better than many other developed countries, a slow deployment of vaccines has eliminated its first success.

Nationally, 30% of people over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated, while 52% have had at least one dose. Vaccines are running at a record pace, but the goal of fully vaccinating 80% will not be achieved until December at the current rate.

Australia has reported just over 44,600 cases. There have been 984 deaths, although the mortality rate has declined since last year.

Reports of Renju Jose; edited by Richard Pullin

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