NSW has kicked another massive goal in its vaccination rollout, with 80 per cent of the adult population now fully vaccinated. The state hit this target on the afternoon of Saturday, October 16, several days earlier than projected, meaning the new raft of freedoms unlocked for vaccinated people as part of the second phase of the ‘roadmap to freedom’ can now kick in from Monday, October 18, instead of the originally planned date of October 25. NSW is set to become one of the most thoroughly vaccinated destinations in the world, with at least 92 per cent of the population set to be double jabbed within weeks. Within the ACT, Canberra is on track to become the most vaccinated city on the planet, with more than 98 per cent of the adult population of the Australian capital having received at least one dose of a vaccine to date.
In NSW, what was originally devised as a three-phase plan to exit the pandemic, based on the federal government’s blueprint, has changed significantly since the state’s new premier Dominic Perrottet took office, essentially becoming a four-phase plan. Regional travel beyond Greater Sydney, which had originally been part of the second phase of the roadmap, has been postponed until November 1. From that date, not only will the residents of NSW be allowed to travel freely statewide, but fully vaccinated people will be permitted to travel overseas and return without having to complete any quarantine period. Then, from December 1, unvaccinated people will finally be allowed to exit lockdown restrictions, gaining access to all the retail, hospitality and entertainment venues that fully vaccinated people are already enjoying.
However, while travel restrictions will remain in place a little longer to allow certain areas of the regions to reach similarly high levels of vaccine protection as Metropolitan Sydney, many of the originally devised phase-two freedoms, as announced by former premier Gladys Berejiklian in September, have been relaxed, with the numbers of people permitted at private gatherings increased, capacities at ticketed events expanded, and certain businesses such as nightclubs permitted to reopen.