By Jess Baker
The NSW-Queensland border bubble is once again in operation, meaning Queensland residents and some NSW border residents can cross for essential purposes, including work, volunteering, and face-to-face learning.
From 1am Monday 13 September, vaccinated people from non-restricted local government areas in the NSW border zone can also travel to Queensland to collect food, access medical care, provide assistance, and donate blood if they have a border pass.
The 12 LGAs in the border zone classified as non-restricted include Tenterfield Shire, Glen Innes Severn Council, and Kyogle Council.
People may not travel between NSW and Queensland to attend a wedding or funeral, to exercise, or for recreational purposes like holidays or meeting friends.
Those who have been in a restricted NSW border zone LGA, such as Bourke Shire, City of Broken Hill, and Walgett Shire, or any other Covid-19 hotspot in the last 14 days are also not permitted to cross the NSW-Queensland border.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her government was happy with how the border bubble had been reinstated and that vaccinated people could cross to complete essential work and attend school.
Also from Monday, all Queenslanders aged between 12 and 15 years old can be vaccinated at Queensland Health vaccination centres.
Stanthorpe and Warwick locals who received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination hub in August will this week and next week receive their second dose.
Queensland Health data indicated, as at 27 August 2021, 53.9 per cent of people aged 15 and over on the Southern Downs had received their first shot of a vaccine and 22.3 per cent had received their second.
As at Sunday 12 September, a total 22.8 million vaccine doses had been administered nationally.
Nearly 69 per cent of people over the age of 16 had received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 42.6 per cent of people over the age of 16 were fully vaccinated.
At the time, Queensland had administered the third highest number of vaccines at 3.98 million, behind NSW at 8.17 million and Victoria at 5.88 million.
