Covid Update – 5th of October 2021

This video is another Covid update regarding the Australian borders and is current as of the 5th of October 2021.

Very big news!

Travel Announcement:

The biggest announcement that has come out, is that International Travel is to reopen officially to the Australian States who have reached the 80%  double Vaccination milestone.

So what does this mean?

Essentially once individual Australian states reach the 80% vaccination rate, their residents will be able to travel overseas and Internationals will be able to enter those states who have reached that vaccination milestone. This could be as early as November.

It has been mentioned that in the beginning, priority will be given to Australians wanting to leave and or return home to Australia.

The government has stated that the next cohort of people being able to enter Australia will be Skilled Migrants & international students.

We expect travel restrictions to be lifted in NSW as early as November, with Victoria to follow and other states opening once they hit that 80% double vax before December.

With this update, it is looking very likely that international students could enter Australia as early Jan 2022. 

This brings us to the next question. Where are the individual states at with their vaccinations?

Here is a little run down of where each state is up to with their vaccination roll-out. Please note this is current as of October 5th 2021.  

NSW – 88.6 1st dose , 67.7 2nd dose 

VIC – 82.9 1st Dose , 53.6 2nd dose

TAS 78.1 1st , 61.4 2nd

SA – 69.8 1st , 51.7 2nd

WA 67.1 1st , 49 2nd

NT 67.1 1st , 54.2 2nd

QLD 67.8 1st , 48.9 2nd

Australia wide 79.9 1st dose and 57.4 fully vaccinated

With the above percentage rates and the trend of vaccinations rates per week, we can pretty confidently say most states will be at the 80% milestone by the end of this year.

Travel Bubbles & Quarantine

Another very surprising announcement is that the government will not be going ahead with the travel bubbles and green light red, light travel system as they previously suggested. All countries will be treated the same, however, it’s looking likely that if you are fully vaccinated you may only have to do a 7 day home quarantine.  Whereas someone entering the country who is unvaccinated is most likely going to have to do 14-day quarantine at an approved quarantine facility.

The 7 day home quarantine will be available to applicants who have had a double vaccination of a TGA-approved drug. These currently include: 

• Pfizer
• Moderna
• AstraZeneca

***Sinovac & Covishield are very likely to be added to this list very soon.

The NSW & VIC State governments are working on exactly how this home quarantine model will work. But we imagine there will be dedicated hotels set up for the 7-day show quarantine system if someone entering does not have a residence in Australia that could facilitate home quarantine.

As always any questions about undertaking study or migrating to Australia please never hesitate to contact the team at Pathway to Aus on the phone, website Facebook, or Instagram Thanks