In leaked audio obtained by the Daily Mail, Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed that he can envision a future where vaccinated Aussies are allowed to go out to restaurants and pubs, while those who don’t get the jab will still have to follow lockdown restrictions.
The audio comes from a conference call the PM had with his constituents in his home electorate of Cook. After all, he is still an MP who has to answer to voters at the end of the day.
During the call, one fully-vaccinated voter from Cronulla said he was frustrated by lockdown and suggested that more people would get the jab if there were some kind of incentive, like being able to safely get on the beers sooner.
“When we get our vaccination levels a lot higher, I agree with you, and I think there should be those advantages to those who have done that and taken the opportunity,” Morrison replied.
“Because if you’re vaccinated, you’re less of a public health risk than you are to someone who’s unvaccinated. I think the time will come when exactly what you’re suggesting should be able to be achieved.”
Morrison noted that even vaccinated people still have the ability to contract the virus and pass it on which is why we can’t just open up again right now. We’ll only achieve herd immunity when the majority of people are vaccinated.
“But for right now, that and having cafes open and people moving around and doing all that, there’ll be unvaccinated people who will still go. I’d like to say that they won’t, but it will still happen,” he said.
“That’s what we’re seeing in many other countries at the moment.”
It’s a proposal that might also one day apply to international travel. Plenty of other countries already issue and accept vaccine passports so that people don’t have to quarantine.
Of course, its all good to say this kind of stuff now.
But it was Morrison’s own bungled vaccine rollout that got us in this mess – as in, the ongoing lockdown in Sydney plus lockdowns in Victoria and Queensland – in the first place.
Had we all been vaccinated earlier this year, as was promised, things would look a lot different now.
At least we can rest assured that the rest of us won’t be held back by a fringe group of anti-vaxxers if push comes to shove.
All adult Aussies (yep, even if those of us under 40) are currently able to get the safe and effective AstraZeneca vaccine through a GP. Talk to a doctor to see if it’s right for you.
Alternatively, you can triple-check to see if you’re eligible for the Pfizer vaccine here.
The best vaccine is the first one you can get, and that’ll be our ticket out of this mess.
