Vaccine rules restricting entry to public venues in Queensland including pubs, cafes and restaurants will be ditched from next week.

The trigger point for the relaxation came after the state passed the 90 per cent mark for double-dose COVID-19 vaccinations for those aged 12 and over, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

“Queenslanders have done a great job, I thank you for everything that you have done, but the time has come to ease some of these restrictions as we return to a new normal,” she told reporters on Tuesday.

Unvaccinated Queenslanders will be welcomed at pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants across the state from April 14.

Vaccine mandates will also be a thing of the past at casinos and cinemas, weddings, showgrounds, galleries, libraries, museums and stadiums. 

The requirement to check in at these venues will also be scrapped.

However, mandates will still apply to visitors and workers in vulnerable settings including hospitals, aged and disability care, prisons, schools and early childhood centres.

The April 14 deadline was chosen to correspond with an expected drop in hospital admissions following the peak of case transmission, Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said.

“I would expect to see hospital admissions … start to fall sometime in the next seven days,” he said.

Dr Gerrard cautioned the virus was not going away, and the best form of protection remains three vaccine doses for adults and four for vulnerable groups including those over 65.

“You will be exposed to this virus sometime during the course of this year, and it is the vaccine that will protect you,” he said.

Barring the emergence of another more contagious strain, it is very unlikely the state will have to reintroduce mandates, the chief health officer said.

The move follows some of the state’s hospitals considering suspending elective surgery to cope with a high number of staff having to isolate or quarantine with COVID-19.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the number of furloughed health workers was dropping after it reached more than 3300 last week.

“We’re comfortable that we can manage this and these restrictions have done their job for what we needed them to do over December, January and February,” she said.

Queensland recorded another 9,946 cases and eight deaths with the virus on Tuesday.

Northern Territory scraps COVID-19 vaccine pass for pubs

Drinkers, diners and gamblers in the Northern Territory will no longer have to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter premises.

Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie has scrapped the vaccine pass for entertainment venues.

This means proof of vaccination is no longer required to enter bars, pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, casinos, cinemas and theatres.

Opposition health spokesman Bill Yan said it was a common sense decision amid mounting pressure from industry, local business and the public.

“It should have been done weeks ago,” he said.

The easing of restrictions comes as the NT records 550 new virus cases with 18 people in hospital and one in intensive care.

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