Vaccination Mandates for South Australian Bound Truck Drivers

A general view of commuters and heavy transport vehicles traveling on the M1 freeway in and out of the city on August 06, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

South Australia (SA) has imposed vaccination mandates on all truck drivers and other freight workers coming into the state by road after many cases of COVID-19 were link to the transport sector.

Many of the recently reported cases in SA were linked to trucker drivers who have passed through the state.

From Thursday, Oct. 7, all commercial transport and freight workers entering SA from the Australian Captial Territory, New South Wales or Victoria by road must show evidence of having at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

From late August to early September, the SA government has been vocal about vaccinating transport workers, especially those that travel from high-risk areas into SA.

Premier Steven Marshall said the change was necessary following the number of recent cases linked to freight operators.

“We’ve had seven, eight, maybe nine truck drivers bring the Delta variant into South Australia just in the last couple of weeks,” he said. “So this is a major priority. We hope that all drivers comply with that direction.”

From Oct. 11, the new rules will also apply to other categories of essential travellers including emergency service workers, remote and specialist workers and diplomatic and consular staff.

All travellers will also be required to have been tested negative for COVID-19 72 hours prior to arrival or to do a test within 12 hours after crossing the SA border.

The new measures come as concern continues over the case of a woman in Mt Gambier who tested positive for the virus after spending some time in Victoria.

The case prompted strict new restrictions for Mt Gambier and surrounding council areas in southeast SA from Oct 4.

New restriction rules included strict density rules; a limit of two visitors per home bans on private functions and sporting activities.

The new restrictions will stay in place for at least seven days.

So far, there has not been any new cases from SA that are related to the woman.

Since Oct. 6, there have been no new cases of COVID-19 in South Australia with 4 active cases currently.

In the state, 70.4 percent of over 16’s have received their first dose with 52.4 percent of over 16’s fully vaccinated.