Unvaccinated Sydney residents risk being barred from various social activities even when freed from stay-at-home orders in December, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejkilian says.
Premier of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian Photo: AFP
Under a roadmap to exit lockdown in Australia's biggest city, unvaccinated people are already subject to delays in freedoms that will be gradually granted to inoculated citizens between 11 October and 1 December.
The two-tier system, designed to encourage more people to get vaccinated, has been criticised for penalising vulnerable groups who have not had access to inoculations and for falling short of providing a real incentive for the vaccine hesitant.
Berejiklian said people who chose not to be vaccinated could be barred entry to shops, restaurants and entertainment venues even after the state lifted all restrictions against them on 1 December.
"A lot of businesses have said they will not accept anyone who is unvaccinated," Berejiklian told Seven News on Tuesday. "Life for the unvaccinated will be very difficult indefinitely."
Pubs, cafes, gyms and hairdressers will reopen to fully vaccinated people on 11 October in New South Wales, and more restrictions will be relaxed once the state's 80 percent adult population becomes fully vaccinated, expected by the end of October.
Australia is pursuing a faster reopening through higher vaccination rates despite persistent infections, largely in its two biggest cities Sydney and Melbourne.
There are some tentative signs cases in New South Wales, the epicentre of the country's worst outbreak, may be flattening. The state reported 787 new cases on Monday, its lowest daily figure in more than a month.
The number of people hospitalised dipped to 1155, from 1266 a week ago, as vaccination levels in people aged over 16 topped 60 percent in the state.
Neighbouring Victoria, however, reported its biggest daily rise in infections, with 867 cases.
Australia had managed the pandemic better than many other comparable countries until the arrival of the Delta variant in June triggered a third wave of infections.
The highly infectious strain has been responsible for nearly 70 percent of the country's total of almost 100,000 cases.
Deaths stand at 1249 but the mortality rate from Delta is lower than last year due to higher vaccination rates among the vulnerable population.
- Reuters