Australia as a nation kept international borders closed to keep covid-19 out, we also had closed interstate borders and even regions were isolated as well. We had low infection rates and a high degree of freedom, Melbourne and Sydney had long lockdowns but the rest of the nation’s capitals were relatively lockdown free. 

As we begin to open up, the world is facing a surge of Omicron infections and Europe returning to restrictions and lock-downs. We need to ask ourselves, do we delay the reopening of Australia? My preference is no, the purpose of closing Australian borders was to vaccinate the nation and allow the medical system to prepare.  

We have achieved that, Australia has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, we are now entering the booster phase where we will receive our third vaccination after 6 months to increase waning immunity against the Omicron variant. We have high vaccination rates, we have a hospital system that has had enough time to prepare and treatments are improving – it is time.