Australia will soon reach the milestone of vaccinating 95 percent of the population against COVID-19 but there has been a substantial rise in cases since March, with states registering the highest number of daily infections in more than a month.
The country reported nearly 50,000 cases of COVID-19 on March 18, including 29 deaths. More than 20,000 of those cases are in the state of New South Wales, where there were six deaths.
Of those six people, two had received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, three had received two doses, and one had received one dose.
To manage the pandemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced in mid-2021 a four-phase plan that was based on achieving herd immunity.
However, herd immunity remains elusive because of the variants that keep popping up, according to Dr. Sean Stevens from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ COVID Working Group.
“You could have 80 percent of the population vaccinated but if they are vaccinated with a vaccine that doesn’t protect from the circulating strain, is that herd immunity?”
Authorities have recently stated that as winter approaches, the rising infections from the Omicron sub-variant BA.2 would mean we'll need a fourth vaccine.
Health Minister Greg Hunt has indicated that the government is considering making this fourth vaccine dose compulsory for older Australians to protect people who might have had waning efficacy from their original boosters.
Meanwhile, thousands of Australians gathered in Queensland on Tuesday in response to the state government’s extension of its emergency COVID-19 powers.
During the emergency period, which has been continually extended since the start of the pandemic in 2020 and was recently extended to November, authorities have the power to investigate and enforce penalties for noncompliance with COVID-19 health orders, such as fines and providing for warrants to enter premises. In some limited cases, officers can enter premises without a warrant or consent.
Authorities can also impose compulsory quarantining, movement restrictions, gathering limits, social distancing, and the sharing of confidential information for contact tracing.
Despite the public’s outcry, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stood by the extension, saying she was worried that the unvaccinated, who are a minority, would transmit the virus to the elderly, despite consistent evidence the vaccine does not prevent transmission.
“I don’t think anyone likes to see these vaccination mandates out there,” Palaszczuk said. “But the reality is we still need to drive up that vaccination rate and we need to protect the community … I don’t know what’s around the corner.”
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