November 9, 2021
Roughly four in every 10 South Burnett residents – and seven out of 10 Cherbourg residents – will find themselves locked out of pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants from next month.
On Tuesday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced new restrictions on unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people that will take effect from December 17 or when the State reaches 80 per cent of eligible Queenslanders fully vaccinated, whichever comes first.
They will also affect everyone aged 16 years or older.
The restrictions will apply to:
- Events at all State Government stadiums including Suncorp, The Gabba, Queensland Country Bank and Metricon, which will be for fully vaccinated patrons only, including staff. This includes Big Bash, T20, One Day Internationals, NRL, AFL, State of Origin and concerts
- Hospitality venues including pubs, clubs, hotels, bars, restaurants and cafes, which will be open only to vaccinated staff and patrons
- Entertainment venues including live music and karaoke bars, which will be for vaccinated staff and patrons only
- Indoor and outdoor music festivals, which will be for vaccinated staff, performers and patrons only
- Government-owned galleries, museums and libraries, which will be for vaccinated only
- There will be no COVID limit on weddings where all attendees are vaccinated
To protect the most vulnerable, visitors to aged care, hospitals, prisons and disability services will also be required to be fully vaccinated except in end-of-life, childbirth or emergency situations.
Police will enforce the requirements at venues.
The Premier said the new measures were a reward for fully vaccinated Queenslanders who deserved to have their lives returned to normal.
They were also designed to provide a greater measure of protection once borders re-opened.
“This pandemic has been a long, hard road,” the Premier said.
“Soon our borders will open and COVID will be in our communities.
“This is about keeping our freedoms.”
At present, only 58.8 per cent of South Burnett residents and 27.2 per cent of Cherbourg residents are fully vaccinated.
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People in south-east Queensland who are still under a mandate to wear masks will be able to pack them away once 80 per cent of the State has had at least one dose of COVID vaccine.
The Premier said it would then be safe for schools, cafes, pubs, clubs, hair-dressers and workplaces to go mask-free.
However, under Federal rules, masks will still be mandatory in airports and planes.
They will also be strongly recommended for public transport and places where people cannot socially distance anywhere in Queensland.
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Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio is urging residents to get vaccinated.
“Since the beginning of last year, the response from our residents within the Toowoomba Region has been nothing short of incredible,” Mayor Antonio said.
“We’ve managed to do an exceptional job to keep COVID out of our community, but with the borders re-opening soon, there is no doubt the risk to Queensland and this community will increase.
“You only have to look at what’s happened in Goondiwindi over the past week to realise there could be cases pop up at any time.
“Fortunately for Goondiwindi, the community has a high vaccination rate and as such, has managed to avoid a larger outbreak so far.
“To make sure we’re also prepared for any future risks, I implore all residents who are able to, to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“It’s crucial we have as many people vaccinated as possible before December 17.”
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While I’m fully vaccinated, I think this is decimation. It doesn’t matter whether you had the jab or not – you still can get it. If people don’t want the jab, that’s their decision.
It’s a plain and simple fact. People who have NOT been fully vaccinated are far more likely to catch COVID-19 than people who have been fully vaccinated. And those people who are fully vaccinated and do catch it are far less likely to end up in hospital. That’s the reasoning behind vaccinations.
People not fully vaccinated are thus also at greater risk of spreading the virus, possibly to loved ones, friends and fellow workers, who may be far more vulnerable, especially if their immune system is already poor. How would you feel if you passed the virus on to one of your grandparents, and they died from it? Terrible is how I’d feel, because I’d know it was my fault that they had died.
As a community we want to impede the spread of this virus as much as we can, and getting the double jab is the best way to do that.
It’s got nothing to do with discrimination. It’s all about being a smart community of people who care about their fellow citizens enough to go and get fully vaccinated.
I don’t think that most people in regional Queensland realise just how lucky we’ve been so far during this pandemic, or appreciate just what a horror show 2022 is likely to be.
Unlike Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast we’ve largely avoided most lockdowns. And Queensland’s case numbers have been negligible in comparison with other States. But unfortunately, this good luck seems to have led some people to conclude COVID is (a) not real, or (b) not very serious, or (c) unlikely to affect them.
However, when the borders reopen Delta is going to sweep through all corners of this State like a knife through hot butter, our hospitals will fill up rapidly and we’ll start seeing the sorts of daily death counts now commonplace in NSW and Victoria.
No doubt, this will make some of the half-hearted anti-vaxxers and fence sitters decide to get the jab after all. But with a minimum 3 week wait between the first and second jab (and up to 12 weeks with AZ) it’s going to be a bit too late for some people.
That’s why the State Government is pulling out all the stops. This really is the last chance for Queenslanders to get to safety before the dam wall bursts.