Gladys Berejiklian ridicules health minister’s warning that Australia’s borders could stay shut even AFTER everyone is vaccinated as ‘the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard’
- Health Minister Greg Hunt said vaccines weren’t enough to open up the country
- NSW Premier Berejiklian hit back hard saying vaccine lets us live with Covid
- She said a ‘managed outbreak should be dealt with and life moves on’
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has derided the federal health minister’s warning that mass vaccination won’t lead to the borders opening as ‘the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard’.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt cautioned last Tuesday that international borders could stay closed even if the whole country were vaccinated.
‘That’s the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard,’ Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday.
‘The vaccination program will change our lives. The vaccination program will allow us to live with Covid in a better way,’ she said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has derided the federal health minister’s warning that mass vaccination won’t lead to the borders opening as ‘the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard’
Asked if she had communicated her views on Mr Hunt’s statement to the prime minister, the premier responded: ‘That’s a private matter for me.’
Mr Hunt on Tuesday played down any tension.
‘I don’t see that there’s actually any disagreement here,’ he said.
‘The real point is that we progressively open.
‘So our approach is to open as quickly and as possible but subject to safety.’
Mr Hunt referred to the example of Chile which has recently seen a sharp spike in cases even though more than half of the population are vaccinated.
However, most Chileans have been given the Chinese CoronaVac which is only 53 per cent effective at stopping the disease.
Ms Berejiklian’s government has been calling for a more flexible rollout, and particularly for vaccination of over-50s to be brought forward.
She said on Tuesday that 2.9 million of the 6 million adults in NSW were over 50. The health advice is for those under 50 to get the Pfizer over the more plentiful AstraZeneca vaccine because of clotting risks.
‘That’s still a lot of people to get vaccinated,’ she said.
Ms Berejiklian also waved away concerns that a positive test for an Auckland airport worker could burst the trans-Tasman travel bubble.
A manageable ‘case or two’ should not impede the opening up of borders, she said.
A ‘managed outbreak should be dealt with and life moves on’.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt cautioned last Tuesday that international borders could stay closed even if the whole country were vaccinated
NSW vaccinated 3,881 people in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday, bringing the total number jabbed by the state to 177,733.
Three new cases were diagnosed in hotel quarantine in that same period.
Investigations are continuing into how the virus jumped between adjacent hotel rooms at the Adina Apartment Hotel at Sydney’s Town Hall earlier this month. No further transmission has been identified, NSW Health.
One Covid-19 patient continues to be treated in intensive care.