A record 402,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered across the nation last week, as the government faced pressure to reveal when the international border closure will end.Health Minister Greg Hunt said the prospect of reopening should compel Australians to get immunised, but warned the border would open incrementally over time. “It should certainly be an incentive to get vaccination,” he told reporters on Monday.“What we are also looking at with regards to the opening of borders is that progressive capacity, based on medical advice for those that have been vaccinated to have easier passage out and easier passage in,” he said.In April, Mr Hunt said even a 100 per cent vaccination rate was “no guarantee” of the border reopening.“(It) is based on a series of factors … If the whole country were vaccinated, you couldn’t just open the borders,” he said.Vaccines were highly effective at reducing serious symptoms caused by COVID-19, Mr Hunt said, but key to the reopening decision would be their effectiveness at stopping transmission of the virus.Mr Hunt also confirmed the government would respond “in full” to the Royal Commission into Aged Care, which delivered 148 recommendations in a final report in March. The health minister would not “pre-empt” the announcement, but said it would prove to be a “line in the sand” for the sector.“It will be a record investment in aged care and will also be a record response to any royal commission in Australian history,” he said.“Not only is it about investment, but it is about the deep and profound respect for older Australians.“If we can produce not only the support but also respect and care and dignity, then I think we will have achieved something.”The government in 2019 received a damning interim report from the Royal Commission titled ‘Neglect’, outlining the “cruel and harmful” system awaiting Australians in their old age.When the final report was handed down, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government’s response would be detailed in the budget.But Labor leader Anthony Albanese on Monday accused the Coalition of “sitting around” in the interim, saying it “waits around until there’s a crisis” before responding. “This government has sat on eight years of neglect,” Mr Albanese said.“This government also cut funding for aged care, directly by Scott Morrison, and hasn’t put that money back in spite of the interim report of the Royal Commission. So this is a real test.”AUSSIES BACK MANDATORY JABSAustralians would support making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for travel and to attend work and study, a new survey has found.The joint study by the University of Sydney and University of Western Australia revealed that 70 per cent of those polled backed mandated vaccines.More than three in five respondents in the study said they would take a COVID-19 vaccine voluntarily. One in four were unsure about getting a shot. Of that group, 70 per cent had safety concerns about the vaccines’ rapid development.Almost one in 10 said they would not get a COVID-19 vaccine.Those who voted for a major political party — such as the Liberal, National and Labor parties — were significantly more likely to say yes to a vaccine than voters for minor parties.“It’s a surprising finding,” one of the lead authors of the study, political scientist Associate Professor David Smith from the University of Sydney, said.“A lot of people who are hesitant would approve of the government making a vaccine a requirement to go to work or study. There would be wide political support for a mandate with some small pockets of opposition based on broader dissatisfaction with government.”“People seem to understand the risks associated with particular activities, and the potential usefulness of mandates to continue to keep spread rates of COVID in Australia low.”HUNT OUTLINES ROAD MAP TO REOPEN INTERNATIONAL BORDERSSafe travel corridors with low-risk countries and fewer restrictions for vaccinated Australians will be included in a road map to reopen international borders.Health Minister Greg Hunt outlined a three-step plan on how border restrictions would eventually be lifted.“It’s really built around the three principles of green lanes and opening up new bubbles with different safe countries, as we’ve done with New Zealand and as we’ll do with others in the Pacific and in the region as they become progressively safer,” Mr Hunt said on Sunday.“The second part of the road map is our own domestic vaccination strategy, protecting the nation.“The third element, that’s the capacity for greater travel for those who have been vaccinated.”Mr Hunt said that vaccinated Australians will be able to travel earlier and “it is highly likely” that they’ll be able to return with lesser restrictions.In light of this, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he wants migration levels to increase to the levels seen before the pandemic as soon as health experts declared it possible, pointing to the need for skilled workers.COVID PATIENTS SUFFER SYMPTOMS SIX MONTHS AFTER INFECTIONTwo in three Australians that had a serious case of COVID-19 suffer long-term health effects, a new study has shown.The COVID Recovery Study, being conducted across 30 Australian hospitals, involves interviews with about 200 patients about effects six to 12 months on.Seventy per cent of patients reported mild symptoms including shortness of breath and weakness and a small number said they had a persistent cough, headache, or loss of taste and smell.Patients who were already critically ill with a wide range of infections were more likely to report lingering issues, the ABC reports.VICTORIA BACKS INDEFINITE BORDER CLOSUREActing Victorian Premier James Merlino has backed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s view that Australia’s international borders will stay closed indefinitely.Mr Morrison made the comments in News Corp Australia’s Sunday papers, but later hit back at the comments attributed to him, saying that Australia had not adopted an “elimination” strategy and does not have a goal of achieving “zero cases” of coronavirus.“I support the comments of the Prime Minister. The pandemic is going to be with us for quite some time,” Mr Merlino told a press conference in Melbourne on Sunday.“That is the reality. We all want to get back to normality as quickly as possible, but we won’t get there until we have not only a successful rollout in the Commonwealth’s vaccine program here in Australia, but 3 billion-plus vaccinations right around the world.“While there’s some countries that are doing well in terms of rolling out the vaccine and we’re seeing a lowering in transmission, other parts of the world are on fire right now, so the Prime Minister is absolutely correct to say that this will be with us for some time, and the border controls, which is a commonwealth responsibility, have to reflect that.”
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