Australia’s leaders are set for a showdown on the national reopening plan after a week of tensions over vaccine coverage and surging coronavirus infections.
Scott Morrison will on Friday chair a national cabinet meeting with premiers and chief ministers amid divisions about the path out of the pandemic.
The prime minister has become increasingly adamant vaccine coverage targets of 70 per cent and 80 per cent must trigger new phases of eased restrictions regardless of case numbers.
Updated Doherty Institute modelling showing it is safe to open up at those thresholds even if there are high case numbers will be presented to national cabinet.
A high quality testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine (TTIQ) system is considered crucial in keeping death rates to a minimum when cases rise under less restrictions.
But research from left-leaning think tank The Australia Institute warns those health regimes could be overrun if cases numbers are allowed to keep rising.
Australia recorded more than 1100 cases including 1029 in NSW on Thursday, while Victoria reported another 79 new local coronavirus infections on Friday.
Australia Institute chief economist Richard Denniss said the size of the NSW outbreak and rise in mystery cases made it unrealistic to assume TTIQ would hold up regardless of infection rates.
“The Doherty Modelling that the prime minister is relying on is literally built on the assumption that our TTIQ system is functioning well,” he said.
“While we hear a lot about the rollout of the vaccines, the Doherty Modelling makes clear that without a highly functioning TTIQ system we have no chance of stopping our country’s ICUs from being overwhelmed.”
The inclusion of children in vaccine coverage thresholds has also opened up a fresh battle between leaders.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is already including everyone over 12 in vaccination targets, while WA Premier Mark McGowan believes the issue needs further serious discussion.
Mr Morrison said the Doherty Institute had made it clear it was not necessary to include 12- to 15-year-olds in overall targets.
“But it does not mean that they shouldn’t be vaccinated. Of course they should be vaccinated,” he told parliament.
Labor’s health spokesman Mark Butler said if the prime minister did not include them, he needed to give commitments about vaccination rates for high school students.
“What we want to see out of the national cabinet is a commitment to protect Australia’s teenagers,” he said.
Expert immunisation panel ATAGI is expected to give the final sign off on expanding the vaccine rollout to over-12s on Friday.
AAP
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