Australia Unlikely to Open Border in 2021: Health Official

Australia's international boundaries are unlikely to open to travelers this year amid the introduction of coronavirus vaccines, said the highest health official on Monday.

Health Secretary Brendan Murphy, key advisor to Australia's reaction to the outbreak, said free-flowing travel to and from the world was not supposed to resume in 2021, reports AFP.

“I think that we’ll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions,” he told public broadcaster ABC. 

“Even if we have a lot of the population vaccinated, we don’t know whether that will prevent transmission of the virus.

“And it’s likely that quarantine will continue for some time.”

The Australian border has largely been closed to international visitors since March 2020 to curtail the spread of Covid-19, with a limited number of locals and their families able to return every week.

Tens of thousands of Australians are stranded abroad as a result, while returning visitors have to spend almost $3,000 ($2,300) in quarantine in a hotel room for 14 days.

The country has secured access to both the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, with the rollout scheduled to begin in late February but still awaiting approval from medical regulators.