Peter Gutwein,Premier
With Tasmania's borders to reopen on December 15, today I can announce that following a briefing by the State Health Commander this morning, we are confident that every eligible Tasmanian has now had the opportunity to be vaccinated.
This means there is no turning back - our borders will definitely reopen on December 15, so if you haven't yet rolled up your sleeve, please protect yourself, your loved ones and your community and get vaccinated.
Vaccination remains the best safeguard we have against COVID-19, and our vaccination program continues to proceed well, with 91.4 per cent of Tasmanians aged 12 and over having had at least one dose, and 83.3 per cent fully vaccinated – putting us on track to achieve our goal of at least 90 per cent fully vaccinated for Tasmanians by the time we open.
This means that Tasmania has the opportunity to achieve one of the highest vaccination rates, not just across the country, but across the whole world, but we are not there yet, and people must keep turning up. There are hundreds of bookings available each day as well as the opportunity for walk in appointments in State clinics.
Our 12-to-18-year cohort was lagging, which is why we incentivised them to get the vaccine through our five-day blitz, which is still underway and has resulted in an additional 1000 young people turning up to our State-run clinics over the weekend.
Importantly, our Reconnecting Tasmania plan will ensure we have the health and safety nets in place to keep on top of COVID, and strong border controls remaining in place, with multiple check points to ensure people are complying with the rules.
People who are caught deliberately flouting the rules could face an on-the-spot fine of $1,557 for failing to comply.
Police will also have powers to arrest people, or they could be summonsed and charged with a penalty of up to $17,000 or six months in prison.
We will continue to take a safe, sensible and cautious approach to COVID-19, based on public health advice, as we continue to draw closer to reopening on December 15.
