Jacinda isn't but the natives are. We told her time and time again not to allow an open border with anyone, but especially Australians because they refuse to follow the rules set for them.

AZ for under 60’s?
 

I’m curious to know how many people would take the AZ vaccine if it meant getting access now instead of having to wait until sometime in the future?

For anyone under 50, the wait could be until late this year or even into next year. In the interests of getting the vaccine rolled out quicker, why not offer “walk-in” AZ jabs to anyone that wants it at a bunch of mass vaccine centres?

Yes there’s a risk with AZ, but I’m willing to bet there’s a whole bunch of people out there that would take it anyway (ie actually able to make their own risk assessment instead of needing the government to constantly hold their hand….)

Refuse to follow the rules??? I love how it’s always “someone else” that never follows the rules…. Like NZ is a perfect beacon of purity (or any country for that matter).

How many people who hopped in their car or on their bike did not make it home yesterday?

Yes. How typical of him that he should have the audacity to ask for WA's "fair share".

I really hope that Pprune’s darling Gladys knows what she is doing, things could get out of hand really fast.

1 case unlinked in the last 24 hours. Rest are linked. Overwhelming majority are close contacts already in iso. Not saying it won’t get worse but NSW Health contact tracers doing a cracking job so far.

I really feel for you lot in Vic. First thrown under the bus by SA now Sydney.

This delta variant needs to be jumped on quickly. We could very easily find ourselves back where we were last year with all state borders closed, no tasman bubble etc.

Just look at all the previously successful countries now battling outbreaks, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam etc.

Why jump on it quickly? While you continue to import it into a substandard hotel quarantine system, this isn’t going to stop anytime soon.
In fact in Australia we have cornered ourselves as a cowering Island nation with no appetite for COVID cases, can anyone tell me the exit strategy while the rest of the world opens up? I don’t think it’s going to happen until another Federal election. What a pathetic isolationist outpost we have become, it’s sad really…

What happened to the UK strain or the South African strain? Gone? You know it’s respiratory virus season in the Southern Hemisphere right? …It’s our turn

Please enlighten us as to the nations that are "opening up"?

So you would rather this, comparable population
Venezuela Total Cases, 264,551 New +1,179
Taiwan Total Cases, 14,259 New +103

The WHO has renamed the multiple different strains of COVID-19 circulating around the world to make them easier to understand.

Under the changes, the four most concerning variants take on the first four letters of the Greek alphabet — Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

Those were previously known as the UK variant, the South African variant, the Brazilian variant and the Indian variant.

From ABC News, The 'Prune won't let me post the actual URL.

You are kidding .. right?

What’s the end game? People going to catch this and possibly die from it even with herd immunity. Just like with a flu vaccine people still get and die from flu. Scomo saying how dangerous the UK is but was happy to have a pub crawl with not a mask in sight. Time to accept some cases and some unfortunate deaths. No one lives forever. Plenty of countries with open borders haven’t imploded.

I'd be happy to provide a few for you:
Spain
France
Italy
Iceland
Malta
Greece
Serbia
Georgia (the country, not the US state full of peaches)
Egypt
Czechia
United States
Maldives
Seychelles
Tanzania
Kenya
Thailand (Phuket only at this stage)
Germany (only certain cities will allow quarantine free travel at this stage)
Mexico
UAE

I'm sure there are many others, those are just off the top of my head. I just got back from a work trip in Italy yesterday in fact. You know, the same Italy that was on its knees with the pandemic last year? I, like my crew and passengers were allowed to be processed like human beings rather than diseased ridden lepers (just a thermal scan as you walk past passport control). We were allowed out of the hotel, enjoy the summer sunshine, chill out by a local restaurant sampling the local delicacies and beverages, like everyone else. The only thing is you had to wear a mask whilst indoors. Last week went to Chicago, everything was open and was able to enjoy the sights the Windy City has to offer!

'Yeah but they gotta wear masks!' I hear some from Australia howl, as if that's the only qualifier of success. Ask those in Sydney and Melbourne who at this very moment have to wear masks. Doesn't seem so successful does it? Australia has no end game with this. Vaccinate and then what? Still be subjected to lockdowns and blockades from within my own country?? You can have that thanks. Ask SloMo what the end game is, he has no clue. The Premiers are all too happy to pull the trigger on travel bans because it serves them well politically. The latest AZ issue only serves to benefit the PM as this helps justify the already glacially slow pace of the roll-out of the vaccine program in Australia. Just string it out long enough for the election and PRESTO! Supply is back to 150%! States can start the vaccine hubs and the 'medical advice' will change to favour reopening borders. Funny how much divine power and might these elections possess right? The stuff of miracles.

I for one look forward to next month when the other half and I go for a road trip around southern France (again another country that was bruised from the pandemic). At least they have a plan and are exempting vaccinated tourists from quarantine. Australia will just carry on with its zero covid obsession and spot fire lockdowns.

Do I sound like a braggart? I hope so. Because to be honest, I'm not sure I want to be in Australia right now.

Fuel-Off :ok:

Well said that man. Australia will be left behind (already is) and then in the coming years the political blame game and ass covering will be rife.

Australia's "leaders" are arrogant and incompetent.

The borders cannot and will not stay closed forever. Australia has become scared of its own shadow. The reality is the borders will eventually open and when they do Covid will circulate through our country like the Flu. We get vaccinated, practice good hygiene and learn to live with it Time for some leadership by ScoMo which involves communicating and educating the citizens about the reality of the situation going forward and what the end game is. The constant rhetoric by our "leaders" of keeping borders closed with no timeline and "keeping us safe" is growing old. We can't remain scared of our own shadow forever.

We in Australia have dug our own hole to deep and can not get out, there is zero tolerance for covid. NSW target 10 million jabs then what?

On a different topic, all these premiers screaming for gestapo camps in the middle of no where because hotels are not good enough. Replace the Sydney crew transport limo driver with the camp transport bus driver we will still have the same outcome. All these camp workers have to return home a the end of their shift, go to westfields and get a haircut. I cant see anything changing with these purpose built camps that will run into the billions.

exactly this. Same goes for the guards bonking the people being quarantined. Or those quarantined deciding to breaking it and leaving for whatever reason as per the northern beaches outbreak. Or possible transmission to cleaners or the guards who could spread it as tests are not foolproof. The workers would all need to be held for two weeks after their final shift before they leave the compound. Because it takes a while for the virus to be detectable in tests. Or live there permanently.

Make no mistake, we are a hair's breadth away from being right back where we were last year. If these few cases that have popped up in Melbourne from Sydney aren't controlled, they may be enough to see the nation's borders close again to Australia's two most populous states. If that occurs, expect to see stand downs on the scale we saw 12 months ago.

It will be very difficult for the Federal Government to sell the narrative of the effectiveness of our quarantine and vaccine rollout in an environment where the only response the states feel is available to them are lockdowns and border closures. The feds should be hammered on this - and rightly so. My tip is that if Sydney and Melbourne are locked down and locked out again, the Morrison government is finished.