COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney to ease weeks ahead of schedule

Vaccinated people in the harbour city of around 5 million will be allowed unlimited numbers of guests in their homes from November 8.

Reuters

November 02, 2021 / 07:24 AM IST

Representational Image. The iconic Sydney Opera House with Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.

Australia’s biggest city will lift more COVID-19 curbs for vaccinated residents ahead of schedule next week, while delaying freedoms it has promised for unvaccinated Sydneysiders as officials aim to boost inoculations.

Vaccinated people in the harbour city of around 5 million will be allowed unlimited numbers of guests in their homes from November 8.

Pubs and clubs will also be able to accommodate more guests and reopen dance floors, in changes that were initially planned to come into force on December 1.

In contrast, unvaccinated people, who are currently barred from restaurants, non-critical retail stores, bars, gyms and other recreational facilities, will remain under the tougher restrictions until Dec. 15, or when New South Wales state’s double vaccination rate reaches 95%.

"We have always wanted to open up in a measured way and incentivise vaccination rates," State Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters in Sydney.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show