Advertisement

'Lockdown until 2022': Dan Andrews' ultimatum to certain Victorians

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has issued an ominous warning as the southern state prepares to come out of lockdown.

Friday will finally see the entire state of Victoria exit lockdown after more than 70 days with the state inching closer to having 70 per cent of its eligible population fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

It means those living in Metro Melbourne will be able to head to the pub, meet up for outdoor gatherings in groups of up to 15 and get a haircut.

It is similar to the NSW roadmap, however from December 1 in NSW the unvaccinated will have greater freedoms including community sports and visits to people’s homes.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the state's reopening plan does not include the unvaccinated. Source: AAP

On Tuesday, Mr Andrews hosed down any suggestions Victoria would ease rules for the unvaccinated in the same way NSW will.

“That doesn’t make any sense to me and we won’t be doing that here,” he told reporters.

“Why would you get the system going? Why would you have the thing up and running and then essentially pull down all of the architecture that you've built, the culture that you've changed, why would you change that four or five weeks later?”

No freedoms for the unvaccinated until 2022

Mr Andrews said he will not be telling anti-vaxxers to “wait this out”.

“If you make the judgement to not get vaccinated and you reckon you can wait out us or the publican, or whoever you want to think you are waiting out, you won't wait out the virus, because the virus will be here for a long time and your only protection against it is being vaccinated,” he said.

“This will be well into 2022. Well and truly into 2022.”

15 year old Jack Guganovic receives a vaccination at the pop-up vaccination clinic at Casey Fields in Melbourne.
Jack Guganovic, 15, gets a Covid jab in Melbourne. Source: AAP

The premier said booster shots will likely be made available next year meaning those who are currently unvaccinated could be behind by three doses of vaccine.

He said there could also be Covid-19 variants which causes issues. But he said Victorians have “got every reason to be confident, optimistic and upbeat”.

“Victorians have done an amazing job,” he said.

“That job includes us making some difficult decisions and that is to keep people who are not vaccinated out of some of those venues that we have been talking about today.”

The premier was asked if he had an idea of when unvaccinated people could enjoy the same freedoms as their vaccinated counterparts. Mr Andrews said he did not have a date but it would not happen when the state reached 90 per cent double-dose.

Victoria recorded 1749 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday and 11 deaths.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.