Vaccine efficacy to determine when Australia re-opens borders: PM

Australia's borders could be opened sooner than expected if COVID-19 vaccines effectively prevent transmission, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Morrison and Brendan Murphy, secretary of the Department of Health, said during a live social media event hosted by News Corp Australia on Wednesday night that opening Australia's borders were dependent on the efficacy of vaccines.

"The key thing that I think is going to impact on that decision is going to be whether the evidence emerges about transmissibility and how the vaccine protects against that," Morrison said.

"If it indeed does stop transmission between people, then that could be quite a game-changer. But that will not be evident for some time yet."

Murphy said in January that border closures and the hotel quarantine system for Australians returning to the country would likely remain in place for the entirety of 2021.

However, on Wednesday night he offered hope that travel could return to normal in 2021.

"So if, as we suspect, these vaccines are effective at preventing transmission, the sooner we get the population vaccinated, the sooner people stand up. Not only will they be protected, but then we will get on this path towards good herd immunity and that will speed up the return to international travel," he said.

On Thursday, Morrison said in a statement that the government had secured an additional 10 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, meng Australia will receive 20 million Pfizer doses in 2021.

The vaccination program "remains on track" for the commencement of delivery in late February to people in the first priority group in the country, according to the prime minister. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )