percysmith

You've higher confidence than most Australians (or HKers)

The question they actually post is "Worried I might drop dead as a result due to my personal circumstances" e.g. unknown cardiac, diabetes condition.

I agree in COVID-controlled territories the fear is overperceived. They have the luxury to worry.

bensyd

Vaccine hesitancy is largely irrelevant at this point. Less than 2% of the population is fully vaccinated. Worry about the 70% that want a vaccine right now. Deal with the rest later. There does seem to be a few people in their 50s who are hanging out for anything but the AZ vaccine. Most of the hesitancy/complacency will melt away as the rollout progresses.

percysmith

Source of 70% will-vaccine?

bensyd

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opini...ne-survey.html



IMO, complacency is a bigger problem right now. With the border shut people aren't trying very hard to get vaccinated – and they can afford to be choosey about which vaccine they want.

docbert

Whilst that number is correct, it's potentially misleading to give the "fully vaccinated" number much meaning in Australia simply because of the use of AstraZenica and the 12 weeks being used between doses. Currently "fully vaccinated" in Australia means you have to have received the Pfizer vaccine, and you have to have qualified to get it more than 3 weeks ago(*). Basically zero of the AZ vaccinated people count in the fully vaccinated numbers at the moment, simply because it's not time for their 2nd dose yet.

To me, the more interesting number is that first doses are nearing 14% of the population. Whilst obviously less than many other places in the world, that number is actually higher than I was expecting.

(* or 5 weeks if they are including the 2 week period after the 2nd dose before you are "fully vaccinated" like the official numbers in the US are)

kiwifrequentflyer

I suspect Melbourne's lockdown will help quash some complacency. Lockdowns are no fun & people want to avoid them happening in the future.

docbert

You've got to wonder how much additional impact they could have had by adding a few extra words to the announcement. "People who are fully vaccinated are exempt from the restrictions".

Of course, that creates an enforcement nightmare (more so for any future lockdowns when a higher percentage of the population is vaccinated) - but you've got to presume it would also have had a lot of people pushing their way to the front of the vaccination lines!

nancypants

I am fully vaccinated as of today
2 observations
-a large queue of people waiting for vaccine (although the queue of Melbourne people outside the pandemic clinic waiting for test was a similar length)
-there was significantly less slack in the system this time- the administrative staff entering vaccine details are gone, the nurses are now entering their own details, which means there are twice as many nurses and twice as many people can have a vaccine. This perhaps contributed to the larger queue and the fact we had to wait outside due to lack of space

(a third observation- AZ seems to have vanished entirely from the government roll out- or at least no one today seemed to be getting it)

I shall now go and revel in my statistical nature 😉

docbert

Feels good, doesn't it!

Although technically - at least using the US CDC definition - you won't be "fully vaccinated" for another 2 weeks. (I'm not sure if Australia is using the same definition or not, and a quick Google search didn't find anything one way or another). Realistically it makes no real difference in Australia at the moment, but in the US we're starting to see different rules for people that are "fully vaccinated" and those that are not, with the 2 weeks built into the former in recognition that the vaccine takes time to provide full protection.

percysmith

Well you can stop pathologically washing hands, get into GAD over contaminated surfaces or tense up when someone coughs next to you.

What it won't let you do is to give you your travel privileges back or (more in the HK context than Aus) let you take of those damned masks. I almost asphyxiated myself in an impromptu meeting yesterday where I was pulled in to explain a minor point in an undersized meeting room and then not excused to leave.

bensyd

The federal government should be on the hook for this latest outbreak in Victoria. They've steadfastly refused to do anything wrt quarantine beyond the small facility in the NT. They have screwed the vaccine rollout. And now Melbourne is going back into lockdown. Unlike the other states that lockdown for a single case, this one seems to have the makings of a major outbreak. The federal CMO has said there's been a super spreader event in Victoria.

HB7

Until the majority of the population has been vaccinated, this will continue to happen (snap lockdowns), because cases will always escape. The government's vaccine rollout is nothing short of pathetic and disastrous. Three months after vaccinations started, Australia is still vaccinating at an extremely slow rate, and this needs to be fixed asap.

nivsy

We know that MEL and SYD are even in covid times major transfer hubs . Does anyone know where the blurb can be located if one is in transit through a "lockdown" city airport for a few hours without leaving the "building"..for example arrival gate to lounge to departure gate . Thanks

Cathay1101

Hopefully it might encourage Australians to start getting vaccinated... It might also remind folks claiming life in Australia is almost just as it was pre-2020 how that is far from the truth...

Mwenenzi

You need to look at each states restrictions. In previous VIC lock downs different states had different rules. Some allowed and some did not.
NSW Govt web site has links to other states--->https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rule...r-restrictions