Tasmania is likely to be opened up to all states and territories free from COVID-19 risks by Christmas, government minister Michael Ferguson has said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the weekend said he expected states to open their borders when they reached an 80-per-cent vaccination rate.
He said it was expected that every Australian would have had a chance to be vaccinated when the country reached that target.
Mr Ferguson said the state had an ambition to reach a 90-per-cent vaccination rate by December 1 which it was on track to achieve.
He said modelling from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, due in mid-October, would guide the state's reopening plan.
"We won't be opening to high-risk areas until 100 per cent of our population has had the opportunity for a vaccine," Mr Ferguson said.
"We're protecting our state, we're part of the national plan, and we're getting additional modelling done through the Garvan Institute and that's an important part of the process in our reopening plan."
Labor's Sarah Lovell said the party would continue to hold its position that public health and expert advice should dictate when borders reopened.
"There is no doubt that Tasmania's health system would struggle significantly to deal with any kind of outbreak," she said.
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"We need the government to be taking steps now to ensure the health system can cope with any outbreak we do see when the borders open."
Vaccination bookings at any of the state-run clinics around Tasmania can be made through the government's coronavirus website under the vaccine information tab: https://www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au/
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Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
