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Qantas international flights in doubt as jab target shelved

written by Adam Thorn | April 12, 2021

A Qantas Dreamline, VH-ZNB, landing at Melbourne Airport (Dave Soda)
A Qantas Dreamline, VH-ZNB, landing at Melbourne Airport (Dave Soda)

Qantas’ plans to restart international flights on 31 October were dealt a new blow on Monday after Prime Minister Scott Morrison played down a previous pledge to vaccinate all Australians by the end of the year.

PM Morrison said on Facebook it was “not possible” to set targets due to the “many uncertainties involved”.

The announcement is significant because Qantas’ chief executive, Alan Joyce, has long maintained he will only allow passengers on long-haul international flights if they have received a COVID vaccine.

“The government has also not set, nor has any plans to set, any new targets for completing first doses,” PM Morrison said.

“We will just get on with the job of working together to produce, distribute and administer the vaccines as safely and efficiently as possible.”

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It comes days after the government said Australia would now prioritise administering the Pfizer vaccine to under 50s rather than the Oxford vaccine that the country has in far greater supply – leading to concerns the whole program will now be delayed.

The change in policy follows similar moves by countries around the world due to concerns the British-created jab could lead to blood clots in a very small number of recipients.

The change in advice has ramifications for the vaccination program because Australia had secured 53.8 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab compared with just 20 million of the Pfizer alternative.

On Friday, PM Morrison revealed the country would purchase an additional 20 million Pfizer doses, but these won’t be available until the final quarter of 2021.

“We will obviously be doing everything we can to seek to move that forward where we can but that is very welcome news,” he said.

Earlier, Health Minister Greg Hunt rejected claims the government didn’t secure enough vaccines and said the new recommendation still meant “the vast bulk of the program remains unchanged”.

“We secured five agreements and nobody knew which vaccines would be successful,” Minister Hunt told Sky News. “There had never been an mRNA [messenger RNA] vaccine that was produced for any time and there had never been a coronavirus vaccine.

“We have four vaccine deals in place: 870,00 Pfizer doses already here, 20 million ordered, and we have 130,000-150,000 arriving a week currently, and increases that are due in May and July.”

Qantas’ chief executive has repeatedly insisted Qantas’ policy is that international travellers must be vaccinated.

In December he said, “Our position on this is clear. We have a duty of care to our people and our passengers, and once a safe and effective vaccine becomes readily available, it will be a requirement for travel on our international services.

“There will be some exceptions for people who can’t – for medical reasons – take vaccines. And our flights to New Zealand will probably be exempt given their success at controlling COVID as well, just as domestic flights will be exempt.

“I acknowledge some people are opposed to vaccines in-principle. We respect that. But in return, we ask everyone who travels on Qantas and Jetstar to respect our safety protocols – which will include a COVID vaccine for international flights, at least until the pandemic is under control overseas.

“In the past week, we’ve asked some of our customers their thoughts on this: 87 per cent said they would take a COVID vaccine if it was required to travel internationally; 85 per cent thought it should be required for travel to at least some countries.

“We will always put safety ahead of popularity – but it seems the vast majority of our customers agree with us on this.”

Currently, only Australian citizens, permanent residents and a limited number of visa holders are allowed to enter Australia, with international students, most temporary migrants and tourists banned altogether. Those who do enter are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine period for which they have to pay up to $3,000.

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Comments (2)

  • Franklin

    says:

    Reckon 2024 as International start-up is being way too ambitious.
    This virus is not yet done with the world’s population.
    It will continue to mutate into stronger forms, as it’s doing even now, & vaccines’ won’t be able to nullify its’ effects.
    Give it ten years’, minimum, from when it was unleashed, & you might have an approximation.
    Let’s hope ‘our backyard’ remains able to be travelled, without constant snap border closures’.

  • IAN

    says:

    last time I looked NZ was international. No shots or quarantine required from Monday.

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