Predictions of when international flights may resume/bans lifted

[OATEK]

Proof of vaccination when entering venues in NSW or VIC. Unless we can issue them a certificate that looks like the usual Medicare one at the airport (which right now my understanding is we can't), I think venues will be confused by any other type of proof.

And is that different for Aussies going the other way?

 

[encryptededdy]

And is that different for Aussies going the other way?

Well yeah, according to @auriga's post earlier, it looks like Singapore will issue you a vaccination certificate in their TraceTogether app when you pass through immigration. TraceTogether is what Singaporeans use to prove vaccination status, so venues don't need to learn anything new for overseas arrivals.

Meanwhile here, my point is Medicare / Service NSW / Service Victoria are not set up to take vaccination passports from international arrivals (at least not yet), and we don't have anything set up during immigration to convert people's vaccination certificates to an Australian format.

 

[Lynda2475]

But at the moment only Aussies Citizens and Residents are being welcomed and there is a way for them to have their overseas vaccination record loaded onto their medicare account, so it will flow through to the Service NSW or CBR or Vic app.

 

[encryptededdy]

But at the moment only Aussies Citizens and Residents are being welcomed and there is a way for them to have their overseas vaccination record loaded onto their medicare account, so it will flow through to the Service NSW or CBR or Vic app.

This is true, although Singaporean tourists can come starting in less than two weeks, so I really hope we improve our system(s) for them.

 

[Silvia]

Silvia, if you don't mind me asking, which visa are your parents using for their visit? Mine are booked to come from the UK in January for a 3 week holiday. I assumed they would use the eVisitor Subclass 651. They have never before had to complete biometrics.

Subclass 600 - just a few countries do the evisitor and most Latin American countries have to do the subclass 600 which requires biometrics. It’s a lot to ask for to be honest plus visa charges and paperwork (and exemption this time)

Post automatically merged: Nov 11, 2021

But at the moment only Aussies Citizens and Residents are being welcomed and there is a way for them to have their overseas vaccination record loaded onto their medicare account, so it will flow through to the Service NSW or CBR or Vic app.

I’ll be interested to see how this goes. I am trying to find out how this would go with the service vic app once my family comes

 

[dajop]

But at the moment only Aussies Citizens and Residents are being welcomed and there is a way for them to have their overseas vaccination record loaded onto their medicare account, so it will flow through to the Service NSW or CBR or Vic app.

Only if the have a Medicare card/number. Many do not. For some reason I do, but my partner does not (who knows why, I just had a Medicare card appear at random in the mail at the address we lived before we left Australia, 12 years ago or so, thankfully tenants forwarded it).

Anyway without Medicare you can get your vaccination record updated and an Australian vaccination certificate, linked to your Individual Health Identifier, but this does not flow through to Services Victoria - that happens via Medicare.

They are issuing my partner with a Medicare Card (apparently allowed, just can’t use it as overseas resident) which will fix that for next time we come back - submitted in September, apparently there is a 3+ month backlog and should be processed by January.

But none of this helps foreign visitors.

 

[dairyfloss]

But at the moment only Aussies Citizens and Residents are being welcomed and there is a way for them to have their overseas vaccination record loaded onto their medicare account, so it will flow through to the Service NSW or CBR or Vic app.

Plus their immediate families who are or have been overseas. These folks are already starting to stream through to Australia

 

[mhouse165]

Plus their immediate families who are or have been overseas. These folks are already starting to stream through to Australia

Was just going to say this exact thing. I am arriving in Sydney early December with my Canadian husband, who obviously doesn't have Medicare. Not exactly sure yet how we will tackle the proof of vaccination for venues/stores etc.

 

[Batterytraveller]

Was just going to say this exact thing. I am arriving in Sydney early December with my Canadian husband, who obviously doesn't have Medicare. Not exactly sure yet how we will tackle the proof of vaccination for venues/stores etc.

NSW is due to end the vaccination requirement on December 15th or when they reach 95% double dose. Given NSW is at 94% first dose it seem likely that the target will be reached very early in December. So less of a problem in NSW.

 

[Lynda2475]

The onus is on Commonwealth to vet vaccination status on arrival, so they really should be building another API/Interface that allows the state hubs to pull certification for foreigners.

But given we are only a month a way from not needing to vet vaccination status to enter hospitality I'm guessing they have decided to save the money.

Maybe they will give them a card or something on arrival which they can show.

 

[mviy]

NSW is due to end the vaccination requirement on December 15th or when they reach 95% double dose. Given NSW is at 94% first dose it seem likely that the target will be reached very early in December. So less of a problem in NSW.

Not sure how you figure that. If NSW does reach 95% first dose it could take them a few weeks or so to get there. First doses have slowed. Add 28 days to get the fully vaccinated number and December 15th should come around before NSW gets to 95% fully vaccinated.

 

[Lynda2475]

No as @Batterytraveller stated the 15th Dec is a fixed date.

"Restrictions will ease further when NSW reaches 95% double vaccination or on 15 December 2021, whichever comes first."

How to protect yourself from COVID-19 and help prevent the spread

Everything you need to know about staying safe from COVID-19 and protecting those around you.

www.nsw.gov.au

Add 28 days to get the fully vaccinated number

This is inaccurate it would be 21 days for majority of people, as most still getting jabbed are choosing Pfizer, but irrelevant given the date is fixed.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Proof of vaccination when entering venues in NSW or VIC. Unless we can issue them a certificate that looks like the usual Medicare one at the airport (which right now my understanding is we can't), I think venues will be confused by any other type of proof.

I am using my exotic medicare certificate loaded onto Google pay in Azerbaijan. It looks nothing like theirs. Never had a problem, Venues want my custom. Heard of a guy in Finland having problems though as there they need one with a compatible QR code to their system. There will be problems if governments create them.

cheers skip

 

[mviy]

@Batterytraveller said the target would be reached very early in December which is clearly inconsistent with the vaccination levels and vaccination rate. 15th December is mid December.

Estimating 28 days allows for that some may get Moderna and that not everyone gets the second Pfizer dose exactly 21 days after the first.

Even estimating 21 days after reaching 95% first dose would still be highly likely to lead to a date after the 15th.

NSW went from 93.97 to 94.02 first dose an increase of just 0.05. That would seem to suggest that it may actually be more like 3-4 weeks from now as a best case to reach 95% first dose assuming the rate doesn’t slow further.

For International travel to get back to anything close what it was like pre-COVID we need to get vaccinated tourists in here easily getting the same freedoms as locals.

 

[Lynda2475]

You conveniently ignored their first sentence

NSW is due to end the vaccination requirement on December 15th or when they reach 95% double dose.

So reaching 95% target is only relevant if it happens before December 15, if we don't get there it matters not, the rules change on a fixed date.

For International travel to get back to anything close what it was like pre-COVID we need to get vaccinated tourists in here easily getting the same freedoms as locals.

Well if they manually show their international vax certs they can enter hospitality in NSW already and from December 15 they dont need to prove it all.

This concern is only a problem outside of NSW.

 

[RAM]

No one was chasing the PM up on this so he didn't have to make the comments he did, which makes me think that officials are getting it sorted out.

Agreed - not on this subject.

However much negative press about many other issues - so 'a drowning man reaches out for'....two new travel bubbles to shift focus. Luckily the focus shift is positive for potential travel.

Not sure how many Japanese businessmen come to Australia anymore vs the golden years from 1986 to 1995. Time will tell.

 

[mviy]

You conveniently ignored their first sentence

I did not ignore that. I was questioning @Batterytraveller's assertion that the numbers indicated that the vaccination requirement would be eased prior to the 15th. I can't see that happening unless the targets are lowered.

 

[Lynda2475]

I can't see that happening unless the targets are lowered

If they bother to fix the inaccurate denominators being used for Sydney , Inner West and Randwick LGAs you see we are actually at 95% already. The 2016 census population data doesn't account for all the empty student accommodation and inner city high-rises that are largely empty because their usual occupants are still locked out of the country.

 

[Batterytraveller]

Agreed - not on this subject.

However much negative press about many other issues - so 'a drowning man reaches out for'....two new travel bubbles to shift focus. Luckily the focus shift is positive for potential travel.

Not sure how many Japanese businessmen come to Australia anymore vs the golden years from 1986 to 1995. Time will tell.

Japan still owns a lot of Australia, but there's been no issue with deal making in the last 18 months with no travel. As much as I would like it to be otherwise a few more months is neither here nor there, especially with Summer here and New Year There shutting everything down for a while. I'd love to do a BD trip to Tokyo, follow up with all the leads I've made remotely, but the reality is the Japanese government is in no hurry and the business world is not giving them much of a push.

 

[FoothillFlyer]

I know several posters have mentioned this in passing, but are there any plans you know of to create a database where we US tourists can upload proof of vaccination in anticipation of opening the borders to non-Aussies?