Australia to open border to vaccinated citizens in November

Australia ‘s international border will reopen in November after being closed for 18 months amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday announced that international travel to and from Australia will resume as states and territories approach 80 percent of the adult population fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Under the reopening plan, fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents will be able to quarantine at home for seven days on arrival in the country rather than for 14 days at hotels.

It is reliant on states and territories reaching the 80 percent vaccination milestone for their over-16s and agreeing to implement home quarantine, trials of which are currently underway in South Australia (SA) and New South Wales (NSW).

“It’s time to give Australians their lives back,” Morrison told reporters. “We must work together to ensure that Australians can reclaim the lives that they once had in this country.”

The changes mean that fully vaccinated Australians will be able to freely leave and enter the country for the first time since March 2020.

It marks an end to international arrival caps that have left tens of thousands of Australians stranded overseas unable to secure flights home.