NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is reported to have slammed Health Minister Greg Hunt’s border comments last week as “rubbish”, describing the federal health minister’s warning that mass vaccination won’t lead to the borders opening as “the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard”.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said last Tuesday that international borders could stay closed even if the whole country were vaccinated, with the NSW Premier telling reporters, “That’s the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard,” adding, “The vaccination program will change our lives”, and “The vaccination program will allow us to live with COVID in a better way”.
When asked if she had communicated her views on Mr Hunt’s statement to the Prime Minister, the NSW Premier responded: “That’s a private matter for me.”
Ms Berejiklian’s government has been urging for a more flexible rollout, and particularly for vaccination of over-50s to be brought forward and she said on Tuesday that 2.9 million of the 6 million adults in NSW were over 50, adding that the health advice is for those under 50 to get the Pfizer over the more plentiful AstraZeneca vaccine because of clotting risks, and “That’s still a lot of people to get vaccinated”.
Ms Berejiklian also dismissed concerns that a positive test for an Auckland airport worker could burst the trans-Tasman travel bubble adding that a manageable “case or two” should not impede the opening up of borders, and A “managed outbreak should be dealt with and life moves on.”
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