Australia’s Queensland state to open to vaccinated travelers

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Queensland state plans to open to vaccinated travelers, ending the status it has enjoyed throughout the pandemic of being virtually free of COVID-19. Tight border controls helped make Queensland and Western Australia among the most successful states in keeping out COVID-19. They’ve been reluctant to ease those restrictions. Queensland authorities warned infection rates would remain high say a reopening plan based on vaccination targets was a sensible approach. The state will open once 70% of its population aged 16 and older is vaccinated, expected by Nov. 19. But the vaccinated arrivals must quarantine for 14 days. Fully vaccinated travelers can enter without quarantining when vaccinations reach 80%. That’s expected in mid-December.