Local vaccination race

WHILE Scott Morrison may have said getting vaccinated is not a race, the finish line for lockdowns is in sight and all communities will soon be exposed to the virus. The suppression strategy is about to end. Once we are open, tonnes of cases will appear in all towns to the point where eventually we won’t even be reporting on how many local cases there are and you will probably only be tested for the virus if you are hospitalised.

Unless you plan on having no contact with people for the rest of your life, you will come into contact with the virus soon and that’s ok if you’ve been vaccinated. Once we open up as a state the only time we will enter any kind of restrictions is if the local hospital is becoming overwhelmed and we need to slow the spread; but it will be just that “slowing” the spread NOT “stopping” the spread.

Long term, we will only be tested for the virus if we are hospitalised, there won’t be contact tracing forever, QR codes won’t be necessary probably by the end of the year and all of the things that have been the “norm” during covid suppression will eventually stop happening.

Having the vaccination is completely your choice, but if you have been “waiting” for any reason to get the vaccine, now is your last chance to get the vaccine before the virus arrives. It takes three weeks for the vaccine to give protection and you need at least two injections, so it is an absolute minimum of six weeks before you will have proper immunity. We start opening up in two weeks.

• Restrictions will ease on October 11, after the state reaches 70 percent.
• At 80 percent travel throughout New South Wales will be unrestricted.
• On December 1 unvaccinated people will have their restrictions lifted.

So where does your community stand for the reopening?

Local vaccination rates: