Australia Lifts Near 2-Year Entry Ban For Non-Citizens Amid Omicron Scare
NDTV
Covid In Australia: Australia has inoculated nearly 90% of its population above 16 with two doses and shortened the wait time for booster shots after the emergence of the Omicron cases.
Australia on Wednesday reopened borders to vaccinated skilled migrants and foreign students after a near two-year ban on their entry, in a bid to boost an economy hit by stop-start COVID-19 lockdowns and restart international travel.
The emergence of the new Omicron variant forced officials to delay the reopening by two weeks after health officials sought a temporary pause to get more information about the strain, which so far appears to show milder symptoms than other COVID-19 variants.
"We're going to live with this virus, and we're not going to let it drag us back to where we've been," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told radio station 4BC on Wednesday. "We've got one of the highest vaccination rates, which means we can fight this thing. We don't have to surrender to it."
Australia has inoculated nearly 90% of its population above 16 with two doses and shortened the wait time for booster shots after the emergence of the Omicron cases.
