You are kidding right?

You do know that you can still get COVID and spread it after the jab don't you.

So where and how does it end? Even more so after a negative PCR test? Evidence shows that transmission is significantly diminished.

Meanwhile, in the "dangerous UK", the roads last night were chok-a-block going to domestic resorts as a holiday weekend and good weather finally comes around.

All the more reason for the country to vaccinate! I know that's pretty difficult because it's not like we make it in country or anything.

Oh that's right...

Fuel-Off :ok:

So when should we open up? 6 months after being vaccinated? 12 months? If you have had the opportunity to have the vaccine and refused well you should be released to the hounds. And don’t whinge about people with disorders and immune problems, that’s always been the case and Influenza picks them off regardless. You need to make precautions if you are immuno compromised anyway…

Having endured significant financial stress as a result of the pandemic like most in the aviation industry, I simply don’t care what the armchair experts and those who haven’t been significantly effected think.

Get Jabbed, it’s the best defence we have now which will support our health and economy to get back to some form of normalcy - whatever that we be in 5 years.

We shouldn't open up until an interest group of scientists says so in the Lancet. :yuk:

Like the flu?

Some very self-centered people with very narrow views that think they have done it hard during this World Wide pandemic.

Pretty much no country other than North Korea has enough immunity to open up yet and many other countries simply do not have the resources, funds or capability to vaccinate even a small percentage of the citizens that want to get vaccinated - for many it will only ever be a dream to get vaccinated.

Here in Australia a first World nation we have hardly touched the surface with vaccinations (so much so it is embarrassing).

Yet the High and Mighty think that just because they have been fortunate enough to get vaccinated, that the World should instantly open up just for them!

Bugger the rest of the World Citizens, that you can easily infect by carrying the virus to what even destination you feel you have the right to visit.

Must love the self-righteous arrogance of some.

So how have you been directly effected by the pandemic?

I’ve been out of full time employment for over 12 months, compounding unpaid debts over my head and I have recently had to sell my car in an attempt to financially recover. I elected not to go on the doll and worked my way out of the mess, which I have successfully done,

How dare you refer to me as being self centred and opinionated and all the rest of the drivel - that’s an insult!

Anyone who has been stood down, terminated from their employment or business owners who were forced into restricting or ceasing their business activities, due to the pandemic would probably feel the same way as I do. Overall I haven’t done to bad getting through the mess, however I know others have and still are suffering financial stress and potential ruin. We need a solution, the vaccines are the best we have now to reduce the deaths and bring things back to some form of normalcy.

Not quite. I think most on here are calling for a pathway from this crisis. To move Australia from these ceaseless knee jerk lockdowns. What is the official word from the Federal Government? A little tid bit burried somewhere in the latest Federal Budget that somewhat whispers the point the country might open mid 2022. That we might have everyone vaccinated by the end of 2021.

The UK has a public plan to open the country, provided nothing dramatic changes. The EU is planning to open to vaccinated travellers in this year's Northern summer. The US is tipped to reach 90% vaccination by end of July (if current inoculation rates continue at their current pace). Phuket (not the rest of Thailand) will be opening to vaccinated tourists later this year.

We have heard nothing but doom and gloom and buck passing from SloMo. At least Boris Johnson and Joe Biden have announced time frames to get their countries out. Our PM knows that it would be to his political detriment if he were to place any time based targets to policy as he has failed to meet any he has set himself thus far.

But apparently Australia can wait. Experts and Melbournians would beg to differ.

Fuel-Off :ok:

I work in aviation, general aviation and have since the mid 80's - I have like pretty much everyone else in this industry have been "directly effected" financially and other.

I learnt from this experience - there is a lot of things that make a life.

This latest outbreak is what our country needed, good kick up the a$$ to go get vaccinated so we can get on with it. Melbourne seeing record numbers for the uptake even lining up for hours already this morning.

Good post Fuel-Off.

Our governments (Australia) have not been united (they are self-centered) and have no real future plan/path for next week, next month or next year.

Our opening up of borders around the World should happen in my opinion after we sort our own back yard we as a country clearly are far from that.
After that we should assist our near neighbors particularly in the South Pacific to have sufficient vaccination levels and evacuation procedures for visitors. After that assist in the greater World with vaccination and evacuation/isolation procedures of visitors.

When the World is on a somewhat equal risk level vs vaccination uptake we can look at open borders for ALL.

Many will think this World level of Vaccination and evacuation/isolation is not our responsibility or over the top - it should be looked at at a practice run for the next event.

I’ve learnt from experiences as well like most others - I just don’t like to be insulted on a public forum for expressing my opinion.

Happy Sunday 😀

This just in, politicians play politics! Absolute shocker!!!:}

Consider Melbourne lucky - they haven’t been overrun by rodents (yet).

I think you have hit the nail on the head(many will disagree of course).
There is risk in everything we do but it doesnt stop us doing it in almost all the decisions we make.
In my humble opinion we need to get vaccinated to reduce the risk of lockdowns,virus spread & maybe dying in extreme cases.
Surgery comes with a risk of dying but if somebody happens to pass whilst having surgery we dont see it on the front page of a newspaper or have every media drive show host telling you how risky it is to have surgery.
Keep it up melbourne😀

Vaccination or no vaccination - The government NEEDS to outline a plan for opening the borders. The reality is you will NEVER get 100 percent of the population vaccinated. Unless you want to have a forced inoculation - mandatory with military intervention. Unfortunately, If that was to occur, I reckon the brainwashed sheepish public would accept compulsory vaccination.

All the things that carry more risk than the AstraZeneca vaccine
 

https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2...k-clots-death/

the same Melbourne now in its fourth lockdown. Estimated to cost over a BILLION dollars.

the same Melbourne or Victoria squealing that the federal government won’t pay for their gross incompetence.

NSW has had a single QR code since the middle of last year. Victoria managed to get to the same point only a couple of days ago. Despite being told in the middle of last year to get a single government code.

their online vaccination system crashed and still isn’t working.

And of course their hotel quarantine where Dan thought he knew better than anyone else and went his own way with dire consequences.

To be fair on Victoria, Canberra could come to the party on the remote quarantine front in that state, the proposal is excellent from what I’ve been told, and of course fix its jab rollout. Two key projects that could prevent these events. I understand the point in regards to the Feds not constantly bailing out states every month, however they could do a better job at the stuff they are responsible for. Avalon construction should have started by now. Hurry the **** up!

Not overly sure contact tracing is at fault either here. From what I gather this last week has been the biggest contact tracing effort ever during this pandemic. Sydney hasn’t been tested like that yet. My son went to the footy, was contacted very soon after. Impressive considering they are chasing up tens of not hundreds of thousands of people in the last week.

I know an aircrew who had a positive as a pax back in the Sydney Christmas mess. NSW health contacted him 6 days later.

Remote quarantine is not the answer, Sco Mo has said he supports remote quarantine as he is in talks with Vic and seems to favor their proposal as it will increase foreign students. This is a sector that is struggling just like aviation it is also loosing millions maybe even billions, however, he did say remote quarantine is to increase the arrival cap not maintain current levels.

The only solution is get vaccinated! U.S.A has 2 million additional ppl traveling as it’s a holiday weekend they are getting on with life their domestic capacity is increasing ten fold compare to is as we fluff around over few cases and send our grand children further into the oblivion with debt.

I like Sco Mo and the gov we have they are doing a much better job than if labor were in power just my opinion other will say otherwise. Sco Mo has failed miserably getting the word out on this vaccine tho, we need the fact the ppl need the facts instead of ppl reading Facebook headlines and watching the project and their misleading stories. Sco Mo needs to get the facts out there I suggest all read then share this link anyway possible so ppl can make a better informed decision after speaking with their GP.

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/defa...t2Y0UlGR4-z1hc

then we have the actual reporting events through the TGA the cases are very low. The general consensus is, not getting vaccinated is much worse than getting vaccinated.
https://www.tga.gov.au/periodic/covi...ort-06-05-2021

The problem is leaks out of HQ. What I still fail to understand is just how many Australians are overseas and want to come home?

The number was originally reported at around 30000. Then there was 10000 in India that wanted to come back.

It’s reported in the paper today, that 47000 people have gone trough HQ in Perth alone since this began.

So my question is, when will the numbers start to decrease?

When we stop letting people leave. I know many who have gone overseas for boyfriends, girlfriends, ‘study’, funerals, weddings.

"The reality is you will NEVER get 100 percent of the population vaccinated"

And of course you don't need to - most sources reckon that over 60% fully vaccinated is probably enough - especially if that includes all the at risk groups. 25% or so of the population is under 20 and has extremely low death rates

If the UK can vaccinate 59% with one shot and 37% with two shots in a few months there really should be no reason why Australia can't be open by October

Deputy PM at some presser again today saying ‘it’s not a race’

FFS make it a race!

Scomo in NZ doing photo shoots as per normal.
Needs to be here but as usual he has more important issues to address.

Absolutely!

The finish line is after the next election date. Constitutionally it has to be by May 2022. Politically when the polls are in the government's favour. They won't make any change on the border until after the election as the country wants to feel "protected" and even if it seeps in and just a very few unvaccinated elderly die then the media will go to town on them. It's a consequence of a zero Covid strategy.

We lockdown and close borders to protect the vulnerable until the vaccine arrived but here's where I draw the line:

Arcare Maidstone aged care worker tests positive - ABC News

If 30% of aged care residents do not consent to be vaccinated then it's their problem.

The logical solution would be to open up after every over 50 has had access to the vaccine. Of course a few elderly would die and the media would explode in fear so the government does SFA.

So once we're all vaccinated, what have the Wuhan bioweapons lab got in store for us next??

I watched the vic govt news conference today & despite what many others think i have to agree they are doing a very good job.
We can go on about whats happened in the past & it was definitely a stuff up but realistically whats being done right now is what matters.
The testing numbers a couple of weeks back were around 15000/day,now its triple that so the logistics involved to achieve that is nothing to be sneezed at.

Please attach link to your sources. Most I look at are a lot higher than 60%. Lets start with fact to much BS is being spread.

A few timely facts for the echo chamber.

The economy is growing, in fact The last two quarters of growth have been the highest rates of growth in the last 30 years. Our hospitals are able to deal with the very few covid cases that we are seeing In fact they are doing it incredibly well. Over the course of the pandemic the majority of Australians have enjoyed a domestic life almost completely unaffected by the virus. Most businesses that needed to, including small businesses, still operating have adapted and are able to profitably operate in the current environment. The prediction of a massive business failure rate following the ending of jobkeeper simply hasn’t eventuated. Both the unemployment rate and underemployment rate have reduced last month. The unemployment rate has decreased for the 10th consecutive month.

The federal government has a strong mandate for continuing with the current policy. This Lowy poll from earlier this month shows a 95% approval rating for how the government has handled Covid. This poll was conducted after the rollout was delayed and widely reported as ‘bungled.’ I think even with the current Melbourne lockdown, you’ll find overwhelming support for the government’s handling of Covid. Virtually no one wants open borders.

Most of the people here are just shouting into the wind.

The Lowy result is below:

I don’t see the government mentioned there.

Tucknroll,

The borders are already open. Not completely but open nonetheless with obvious quarantine caveats. If you advocate strict border closure, that means no one enters period, yet about 1000 people per day are arriving. What will it be? No one is advocating opening up to pre COVID levels yet, so why do you keep pushing it in order to scare people?

I hazard at a guess that the government’s mandate is evaporating quickly at the moment. The press is turning in tune with the consensus that vaccination is the key. Look at the response in Victoria. Its economic suicide to remain a hermit nation into the future. It’s not sustainable.

Pray tell what do you do for a living? Has it anything at all to do with professional aviation?

Keep pushing your mantra but the majority here disagree with your opinions. You’re probably an anti vaxer to boot.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nat...30-p57wei.html

Sure, but I think that is implied within the question as governments set policy. Perhaps you could give your interpretation of the question?

“Overall, how well or badly do you think each of the following countries have handled the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak so far?”

Economic suicide? The figures just aren’t showing that. Look at my original post, we have had the two largest quarters of economic growth in the last 30 years. Our economy is the envy of the OECD.

As for what I do, I’m a long haul pilot, currently stood down. I have been for over a year now.

My previous post wasn’t stating an opinion. It was stating statistics. I’m not an anti vaxxer, but your supposition is an example of poorly aimed insults thrown at people who tell you inconvenient facts that you don’t want to hear.

Implying is the realm of marketing. :hmm:

If you want a survey on government policy, then you need to include questions on government policy.

What’s the deficit looking like? Keynesian economics fit for a crisis but is it sustainable and for how long. Massive tax breaks, infrastructure spending, low interest rates and eye watering private debt pumping a housing bubble is not a long term proposition.

Still didn’t answer the question. Do you want borders closed or not? Status quo or a gradual opening up similar to what’s happening with NZ? What will it be?

You have a vested interest like myself to get back to work. No one is advocating for rash changes since we are so far behind the UK and the USA we can watch and learn. After all we played COVID well for the first half of the game, and then convinced ourselves that we were the winners with the second half yet to be played. The USA and the UK played a woeful first half, no question, but the second half is on script. Pollies have always said that borders will open gradually from the get go, so why the opposition?

Where and when is the end point?

The “figures” are showing the effect of the massive sugar hit provided by the government stimulus plus super release plus 6 months of accumulated savings (for those still working).

In the medium term all this goes away.

Just about the only reason GDP has grown since 2008 is the high immigration rate we’ve had. Closed borders mean the population is expected to decline over the next 12-24 months. Once that stimulus runs out, watch the economy stagnate.

If you actually listened to the “people shouting in the wind” you’d probably notice a lot of them are frustrated with the apparent lack of plan from the Feds on when things will reopen.

Comments from the PM like:

”it’s not a race”

”borders MAY reopen in 2023”

Does not fill anyone with hope they have any f****** idea what comes next.

Australians are happy with the “way things have been handled” because they haven’t experienced any alternative. Plus the outside world has basically been presented as the zombie apocalypse. But is the border opening dependent on an opinion poll or the various levels of governments doing their job and LEADING the country forward?

The ONLY way forward is to vaccinate as many people as possible as FAST as possible. Nothing else offers any protection. We’ve had 17 different outbreaks from HQ and this will continue on until eternity with the current border restrictions. Closing the border is not a sustainable medium term option, vaccination is the only way out of this mess.

GET ON WITH IT!!