Vaccinated Aussies could travel overseas ‘in six weeks’

Health Minister Greg Hunt reportedly outlined the proposal to his Coalition colleagues on Tuesday, according to The Guardian. Australia’s border has been closed since March 2020, with anyone granted permission to enter the country being forced into two weeks of hotel quarantine, due to Covid-19 precautions. The publication reported that modelling has begun for the “pilot program”, which could start in the next six to eight weeks. NED-3467 Travel BubblesQuarantine exemptions would include Australians who have been vaccinated and those from countries such as the US, Canada, Singapore and the UK, where “vaccination status can be verified”, The Guardian said.The only place Australians can travel right now – and return without needing to spend 14 days in a hotel – is New Zealand, under the so-called travel bubble.VACCINE KEY TO OVERSEAS TRAVELAustralia could soon open up a travel bubble with the US and the UK, given the success of vaccination rollouts in both countries. Qantas chief Alan Joyce made the bold pronouncement as he continued his campaign to encourage more Australians to get the jab against Covid-19, reports The Australian.Speaking at the Future of Travel Forum hosted by News Corp in Sydney on Monday, Mr Joyce said the vaccine was the key to resuming international travel by the end of the year.Mr Joyce said that international borders, which were predicted to remain shut well into 2022, were the “elephant in the room”.“We know the path to get international open is really the vaccine,” he said.“It’s our passport to get inter­national travel going again.”Qantas was seeing increasing demand for the trans-Tasman bubble, and Mr Joyce expected the federal government would soon extend quarantine-free travel to the ­Pacific Islands, including Fiji, Noumea and Vanuatu.Already, flight crews operating from the Pacific Islands into Australia were being granted exemptions to 14-day quarantine, providing all on board tested negative to Covid-19.Mr Joyce tipped the US and Britain could follow the Pacific ­Islands, jumping ahead of other ­“bubble” candidates.“A few months ago, I thought maybe Singapore, Taiwan and Japan would be first cabs off the list but with the great progress that’s been made in the US and the UK, you may see those markets opening up before the rest because the vaccine rollout has been so successful in both countries,” he told Nine’s Today show on Monday. “We’re still talking to the government about it, we’re still planning to be ready (to fly long-haul international) at the end of this calendar year.”Preparations and planning for international travel were ongoing, Mr Joyce said, with aircraft and crew at the ready.He likened the pandemic to a plane journey, describing the flight as “superb”, albeit with some turbulence along the way.“The government has managed this unbelievably well, state and federal governments. But we’re coming up to the most difficult part of a flight, the pilot will tell you, and that’s the landing.“And to land the aircraft successfully, we have to roll out the vaccination program successfully. We have to have a clear plan for opening up the borders.“We have to give confidence to people to travel again.”