Vax and the City: Every public health official in Australia agrees that mass vaccination is the only way out of this crisis. We at Time Out recommend that you get vaccinated as soon as you can, if that is appropriate for your own health. Please speak to a medical professional about what is right for you. Here's what you need to know about how to get a vaccine right now.
More and more Victorians are rolling up their sleeves and getting the Covid-19 vaccine every day, and the state is now on track to smash past its target of getting 1 million more jabs into arms by the end of September. Almost 40 per cent of Victorians are now fully vaccinated (and just over 60 per cent partially vaccinated), which is fantastic news. But the Doherty Institute modelling, which has formed the basis of national cabinet's roadmap out of lockdowns and other Covid measures, indicates lockdowns will still be in place until 80 per cent of the community has been fully vaccinated.
Premier Dan Andrews has called Victoria's vaccination program a "race to 80", at which point the state hopes to retire lockdowns permanently. With a bunch of different targets and dates floating around, when is the state likely to hit that mark?
According to the ABC's modelling, based on current trends Victoria is due to hit 80 per cent vaccination on December 1. That does not mean that that is Victoria's "freedom day", as it takes two weeks from the final vaccine for people to fully develop antibodies. It could also be earlier, if the state government decides to lift some or all the current restrictions when 70 per cent of Victorians have been fully vaccinated. That 70 per cent target is expected to be hit on November 10.
Victoria lags behind NSW, which is on track to hit its vaccination targets a full month earlier than Victoria. Victoria's vaccine supplies have been constrained, but with more appointments coming online every day, the state government and public health officials are hopeful every eligible Victorian can secure an appointment for either Pfizer or AstraZeneca as soon as possible.