The good news is that with an influx of Moderna, there appears to no longer be a supply issue but the race to immunise the nation is far from won.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
While Australia is now ahead of the US in terms of first doses administered, and is catching up to New Zealand, the UK, China and Denmark, opening up when just 80 per cent of the population is double jabbed is fraught with danger.
Chief Health officer Brett Sutton has used these international examples to highlight that more than 90 per cent vaccination rates should be the objective in order to ensure that the inevitably large numbers of cases do not overwhelm the health system.
That is a big ask on any system.
The figures speak for themselves - 93 per cent of those currently getting very sick from COVID have had no vaccine. The arguments on what you should do to protect yourself, your family and your community have already been concluded.
There are two reasons Australia needs to aim for a vaccination rate in excess of 90 per cent. The first is that a high national vaccine number still includes significant pockets of under-vaccination. The second is the much greater virulence of the Delta strain compared to the original coronavirus of 2020. Techniques that worked in 2020 don't now.
Premiers who believe they can keep their borders closed until the rest of the country is virus free are deluding themselves. Recent COVID-19 leakages into Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania are proof they are playing with fire so long as their vaccination rates lag behind the rest of us.
Vaccination is the only route out of lockdown and the emphasis should be on minimising hospitalisations (and deaths) rather than focusing on case numbers.
Why isn't the federal government stepping up its vaccination advertising campaign and offering incentives for that last 10 to 15 per cent of holdouts?
There's no time to waste.