The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has reportedly told Sydney radio she will consider permitting venues to ban entry to people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. This is an interesting development to a story my colleague Paul Karp wrote on Friday about the circumstances under which the vaccine would be mandatory.
The below is from a story AAP have just filed about Berejiklian’s comments this morning:
The NSW premier says her government will consider permitting venues to ban entry to those who decline to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
NSW reported six new local cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, five of which were household contacts of a previously confirmed case in western Sydney.
NSW Health believes that case was linked to the Berala cluster.
The sixth case is a Concord Repatriation General Hospital staff member who worked in the cardiology and radiology wards and may have been infectious on January 12, 13, and 14 but had minimal patient contact.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has flagged the possibility of easing restrictions on greater Sydney this week, dependent upon high testing rates.
She also broached on Monday the possibility of barring those who refuse to take the Covid-19 vaccine from government-run buildings, as well as permitting private venues to take similar measures.
As the planned February rollout of the vaccine nears, the NSW government is considering a data-sharing partnership with the federal government that would help residents prove they have been immunised.
Berejiklian last week said the Service NSW smartphone app could show a tick when a person is vaccinated, enabling venue entry.
“The more people that are vaccinated, the greater likelihood we can have a return to normality as we know it,†Berejiklian told 2GB Radio.
“Already airlines have indicated that if you’re not vaccinated you can’t travel overseas and I think that’ll be incentive to a lot of people.
“But we’ll also consider whether we allow venues … make up their own rules if they have a business or run a workplace about what they feel is Covid safe.â€
Berejiklian also said Victorian counterpart Daniel Andrews had not made contact about the state’s hard border arrangements.
She reiterated her misgivings about the controversial move, which continues to lock greater Sydney residents out of Victoria.
Victoria has gone 11 straight days without a new local coronavirus infection and residents stuck in Brisbane are now free to travel back to the state.
