The PM and Premiers are promising things will be very different when we reach 70% and 80% fully vaccinated. But how will we get there?

Weddings are allowed again in NSW from today but with restrictions on numbers depending on where you live (11 at the most). Funerals are also very restricted and of course all venues are closed.

Based on the stages we went through following previous lockdowns what we can probably expect this time around might look like this:

Step 1a: Sydney – remove the LGAs of concern restrictions so all are under the same restrictions.

Step 1b: reopen retail, houses of worship, restaurants, cafes, function centres, venues, pubs and clubs to those who are fully vaxxed and with the 4 sqm rule or 50% capacity.

Step 2: 2 sqm rule or 75% capacity for all venues.

Step 3: 100% capacity – for all indoor and outdoor venues.

The point of course is when these steps would be implemented?  It appears that it will be a combination of vaccination rates and current cases.

There will be huge political pressure to open up once we reach 70% and again when we achieve 80% so I expect the announcements will coincide with those milestones being achieved. The level of “freedom” will of course depend on the current cases at that time.

This was Daniel Andrews today:

“I had a very lengthy, and a good discussion with the Prime Minister on Wednesday evening about a number of different things, a lot of the things that we agree that I stressed with him is the notion that at 70% likely 80% double dose, we will have opportunities to open a part of the Victorian economy to those who have been vaccinated.

To put it another way, when we get to those vaccination double dose thresholds, as part of the national plan, the notion of a locked out of the whole community is far less relevant.

What will become a bigger part of our response is a lockout of many venues for those who are not vaccinated. That might seem a bit harsh, but I’ve said this before and I will make the point again, I am not going to lock the whole state down to protect people who would protect themselves.

Yes, there is some supply issues with vaccine at the moment, but by the time we get to 70 or 80%, everybody would have been given an opportunity to do so, so I think if you are not vaccinated, and you could be, the chances of you booking a ticket at a sporting event, going to a pub, go to old about are different places, will be very limited.”

 “At this stage, the greatest incentive is freedom. You will be able to participate in an economy, go to the pub, the cinema, to a sporting event. Things that an unvaccinated person will not be able to do.

You will have freedoms that others will not have. They will be locked out of a whole range of venues because they could be vaccinated and they have chosen not to. That is the greatest incentive, to get our freedoms.

But also not just those personal things, it is also the greatest incentive to make sure that our ICU nurses and doctors, all the heroes in our health system have just a little bit easier task.”