Vaccine hesitancy and variants mean Australia may not reach Covid herd immunity – researchers

Modelling by the Burnet Institute indicates some need for lockdowns and other public health measures will remain long term

People line up to receive a coronavirus vaccination in Brisbane. New modelling shows current levels of vaccine hesitancy could mean Australia does not achieve herd immunity. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Australia is unlikely to achieve herd immunity with current levels of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy and the higher infectiousness of new variants, modelling from Melbourne medical research laboratory the Burnet Institute has found.

The scenarios modelled by researchers assume a vaccine rollout speed of either 150,000 or 250,000 doses per week, and that on detection of the first case, symptomatic testing increases, isolation of positive cases continues, masks become recommended but not mandatory, and contact tracing continues for up to 250 diagnoses per day.

The projections represent hypothetical near-worst-case scenarios, and model outbreaks that occur once Australia is Covid-free, without lockdowns and other public health measures in place.

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 Anti-Vaxers have Rocks Between their Ears

 

Vic records one new local COVID-19 case

 

Victorians are being asked to nudge each other into getting tested if they spot COVID-19 symptoms.

Victoria has recorded one new locally acquired case of coronavirus.

The Health Department on Sunday confirmed the new case is a close contact of an already infected person.

They have been quarantining throughout their infectious period.

Some 17,102 Victorians were tested in the 24 hours to Sunday morning, while 14,390 received a COVID-19 vaccine dose at state-run hubs.

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Five more Victorians found fleeing lockdown in Queensland after couple COVID-positive

 

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski. Credit: DARREN ENGLAND/AAPIMAGE

Five people have been found in Queensland having fled the recent Victorian lockdown, on top of a COVID-infected Melbourne couple who have sparked fury in the Sunshine State.

The five people have each been fined $4003 for breaching the state’s border ban to Victoria.

They include two women found in the Darling Downs on June 4 after crossing the border at Goondiwindi.

A man was also fined for having an untrue declaration on his border pass after crossing at Coolangatta, while two other people were found in the Wide Bay region with crossing at “no border pass at all”, Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said.

“It’s really incumbent on people to make sure they do what’s required of them when they come into this state,” he said.

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 You can't vaccinate against STUPIDITY - But you can Vaccinate against Covid.

 

Police to interview infected Melbourne couple about road trip

 

Health staff perform Covid-19 tests at a drive-through station in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

An infected Melbourne couple, who left a trail of chaos through NSW and Queensland after leaving lockdown, could be facing heavy punishment.

A Melbourne couple who left lockdown and travelled through NSW and Queensland before being diagnosed with Covid-19 could be facing punishment from three states, with jail time even on the cards.

Queensland recorded no new locally acquired Covid-19 cases overnight, after a 44-year-old woman and her husband left Victoria while unknowingly infected and set off on road trip to the Sunshine Coast.

The pair left Victoria on June 1, four days after a statewide lockdown had come into force, and travelled through regional NSW and Queensland before the woman tested positive to Covid-9 on June 8 in Caloundra.

Queensland Health authorities confirmed yesterday that her husband had also tested positive to the virus. They are both in isolation at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

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 You can't vaccinate against STUPIDITY - But you can Vaccinate against Covid.

Masks stay as Vic records mystery cases

 

Masks will still be required outdoors in Melbourne, as most Victorian restrictions are set to ease.

Masks will remain compulsory in Melbourne while other restrictions will ease as planned, after a family with no known links to current outbreaks tested positive for COVID-19.

Acting Premier James Merlino confirmed restrictions will ease at 11:59pm on Thursday, but Melburnians must continue wearing masks indoors and outdoors.

"It is inconvenient but an easy thing to do. We are used to it, we know it works," he told reporters on Thursday.

"As we come out of this period of lockdown, while we are driving these new cases to ground, it is a logical and common-sense step to take."

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Qld COVID alert after three-state trip

 

Dr Jeannette Young says the emergence of just one new coronavirus case is good news for Queensland.

A list of COVID-exposure sites in Queensland and NSW is expected to grow after a woman left locked-down Melbourne to go on a road trip across three states before testing positive on the Sunshine Coast.

Regional centres in NSW and Queensland are on alert after the woman's case was confirmed on Wednesday.

She and her husband left an unidentified suburb on the edge of greater Melbourne on June 1, while the Victorian capital was in lockdown to control community transmission of the virus. #VaccinesWork

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 You can't vaccinate against STUPIDITY - But you can Vaccinate against Covid.

Covid Qld: Qld Health authorities confirm new virus case detected on Sunshine Coast

 

Queues of cars line up for covid testing at Caloundra after a Victorian woman tested positive in the holiday town on Wednesday afternoon. Picture: Lachie Millard

Queensland is facing a renewed COVID scare after a Melbourne couple escaped lockdown to travel to the Sunshine Coast, where one has returned a positive result, as authorities admit it was sheer luck that the case was caught at all.

Queensland is facing a renewed COVID scare after a Melbourne couple escaped lockdown to travel to the Sunshine Coast, where a 44-year-old woman has returned a positive result after entering Queensland on June 5.

Health authorities have identified six close contacts of the woman, who is believed to be from greater Melbourne and was staying with family at Caloundra.

The woman’s partner has tested negative but has been admitted to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital given he had spent an extended amount of time in the car with her.

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 You can't vaccinate against STUPIDITY - But you can Vaccinate against Covid.