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Western Australia will become the first state or territory to require workers to get a third COVID-19 vaccine dose under its far-reaching mandatory jab program.
About 75 per cent of the state's workforce are subject to the mandates but they were previously only required to receive two doses.
Premier Mark McGowan says workers will now need to have a third dose within one month of becoming eligible for the booster.
Australians are currently eligible for the booster shot five months after having their second dose of a vaccine but health authorities are looking at shortening that period.
"You need to start thinking about getting a third dose as soon as possible, before Omicron starts coming into our community," Mr McGowan told reporters in Perth after Wednesday's national cabinet meeting.
Almost 90,000 West Australians have received their third dose out of the more than 266,000 who are currently eligible.
A third dose is also likely to be required for people to gain access to large venues such as stadiums once the borders reopen.
The premier said the plan to reopen the state's borders from February 5 remained "locked-in barring an emergency", with state and territory leaders set to receive advice in a fortnight's time about the severity of the Omicron variant.
"We'll watch what happens in NSW and other states as part of that," he said, adding that restrictions such as mask-wearing could be scaled up at any time.
"I want us to make it to February 5."
In the meantime, WA will further tighten its borders by upgrading Tasmania and the Northern Territory to medium risk from Boxing Day.
It means WA will have a hard border in place to all other states and territories, denying entry to any non-approved travellers.
Asked whether mask-wearing at all indoor venues would become inevitable once the borders reopened, Mr McGowan said it was likely to be enforced selectively to prevent "mask fatigue".
He said WA's very high levels of vaccination meant the state could do away with wide-reaching lockdowns such as those that affected the entire Perth and Peel region earlier this year.
Highly targeted and localised lockdowns could be implemented in regional communities with low rates of vaccination.
Should the state have an outbreak before February 5, the government is likely to turn to mask-wearing and social gathering restrictions in place of a lockdown.
Authorities are confident the public health risk is very low after a man and a woman who arrived on a flight from Brisbane tested positive overnight.
The vaccinated couple, aged in their 30s, arrived on Sunday night on flight VA470, hours before WA's reintroduced hard border to Queensland came into effect.
They are isolating along with four household contacts who have tested negative.
The pair attended a testing clinic on Monday and briefly stopped by the 7-Eleven Midland service station to fill up their car while wearing masks.
Authorities have identified 104 casual contacts and 35 close contacts, 23 of whom have tested negative.
WA's double-dose vaccination rate is nearing 83 per cent and is on track to reach 90 per cent by the time the borders reopen in February.
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Scott Morrison insists Australia is very unlikely to reach a worst case scenario of up to 200,000 daily COVID-19 cases detailed in modelling to federal, state and territory leaders.
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has also played down the possibility modelled by the Doherty Institute that canvassed various scenarios and what could happen in the absence of tighter restrictions.
It showed a worst case scenario of 200,000 daily cases by late January or early February.
New daily infections in NSW jumped again on Wednesday to 3763. There were two more deaths. Victoria recorded 1503 new cases and six additional deaths.
Both Queensland and the ACT recorded daily case highs of 186 and 58, respectively. Tasmania notched up 12 more cases.
Assumptions factored into the 200,000 figure included Australia's booster shot program not being sped up or expanded and the Omicron variant proving as severe as the Delta strain.
Other factors included states and territories not tightening public health measures, people not changing their own behaviours in the face of rising case tallies and the absence of hospital surge capacity.
"None of these five assumptions represent the likely state of events, let alone all of them together," Professor Kelly said.
"Presenting that scenario as the likely scenario that will occur is highly misleading."
He pointed out worst case scenario modelling in 2020 around the number of intensive care beds required was never realised.
"While modelling is an important tool to help guide decision-making, it is just one of a range of tools and cannot be viewed in isolation," Professor Kelly said.
The prime minister thought it was very unlikely Australia would reach 200,000 new daily cases.
"(It's an) extreme case scenario that assumes that nobody does anything, nobody gets boosters, there are no changes that take place, no one exercises commonsense," he told the Seven Network.
But the Australian Medical Association thought the Doherty Institute's modelling throughout the pandemic had been pretty on the mark.
"I'm confident in the numbers," vice president Chris Moy told the Nine Network.
"The million dollar question is ... how many people are going to end up in hospital and in intensive care wards."
National cabinet is set to discuss mask requirements indoors and advice about whether three jabs will be required for someone to be considered fully vaccinated.
Queensland has tightened mask requirements for hospitality venues and cinemas, while the ACT has made them mandatory across all indoor settings.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is considering bringing boosters forward from the current five month interval.
About 1.5 million people have received a booster shot out of an eligible group of around 3.1 million.
Mr Morrison called on states to ramp up their booster programs.
His office cited an overall decline in state government vaccine hubs from 957 to 699 between November and December.
The prime minister said pre-travel testing requirements were clogging up the system, with clinics across the country overwhelmed.
"Rapid antigen testing in those situations would certainly be a more effective option," he told the Nine Network.
"Whether there's a requirement for that at all, on the public health advice that we're receiving, I think that's an issue for discussion."
The national double-dose vaccination rate for people aged 16 and older has surpassed 90 per cent.
South Australia on Tuesday reported 154 new infections and the Northern Territory 14.
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COVID-19 testing requirements for interstate travel could be cut as states and territories look at adopting common definitions for what makes someone a virus contact and when.
Federal, state and territory leaders have agreed to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee's strong recommendation masks be worn indoors across the board.
But mandates will be left up to states and territories.
The federal government will increase payments to GPs and pharmacies delivering booster shots by $10 as states and territories prepare to ramp up their jab clinics.
Updated modelling will be prepared by the Doherty Institute to forecast what Prime Minister Scott Morrison describes as "real cases" and not "speculative assumptions".
"We are taking Omicron very seriously, as you would expect us to," he told reporters on Wednesday following a meeting of national cabinet.
"But at the same time, we are confident that we will be able to continue to ensure we can face down the most recent challenge."
The AHPPC will provide advice about whether traditional PRC tests are required for interstate travel at all, or whether rapid antigen tests can be used.
It will also provide advice within a fortnight for a national definition of a casual virus contact.
"We cannot have different rules in different places about what a close contact is and what a casual contact is," Mr Morrison said.
"There is even an argument which says that there shouldn't be any requirement to have a casual contact definition at all when you're dealing with such a high volume of cases.
"What matters is how you're managing those close contacts and how they're defined."
States and territories agreed a return to lockdowns was highly undesirable.
Mr Morrison urged people to wear masks, but said they didn't need to be forced.
"Think of the person you're going to meet this weekend. Think of Christmas Day where you will see elderly relatives," he said.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is still considering whether to bring forward the time frame for booster shots from five months.
The prime minister cautioned bringing forward eligibility could backfire if too many people tried to get a third jab at once.
"It can actually lead to a situation where those groups that you want to prioritise to get those boosters can be crowded out," Mr Morrison said.
He reiterated Australia was very unlikely to reach a worst case scenario of up to 200,000 daily cases under various scenarios modelled by the Doherty Institute.
Assumptions factored into the figure included Australia's booster shot program remaining the same and the Omicron variant proving as severe as the Delta strain.
Other factors included states and territories not tightening public health measures, people not changing their own behaviours in the face of rising case tallies, and the absence of hospital surge capacity.
"That (200,000 figure) is not a scenario that is envisaged any way shape or form," Mr Morrison said.
New daily infections in NSW jumped again on Wednesday to 3763. There were two more deaths. Victoria recorded 1503 new cases and six additional deaths.
Both Queensland and the ACT recorded daily case highs of 186 and 58, respectively. Tasmania notched up 12 more cases.
South Australia recorded 198 new infections.
More than 1.6 million people have received a booster shot.
Australia has 20 million vaccines in stock. Just over a quarter are in fridges at GPs, pharmacies and state hubs or en route to them.
The national double-dose vaccination rate for people aged 16 and older is inching towards 91 per cent.
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Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has played down modelling showing up to 200,000 daily COVID-19 cases are a possibility in the absence of tighter restrictions.
He labelled media reports of the Doherty Institute modelling - prepared for federal, state and territory leaders ahead of Wednesday's national cabinet - misleading.
It showed up to 200,000 daily cases was possible across the country by late January or early February unless states and territories beefed up public health measures.
Professor Kelly stressed this was the worst case of all possible scenarios. It included assumptions such as the Omicron variant being as severe as Delta.
Other assumptions factored into the figure included a highly limited booster program, lack of hospital surge capacity and no changes to public health measures.
"None of these five assumptions represent the likely state of events, let alone all of them together," Professor Kelly said.
"Presenting that scenario as the likely scenario that will occur is highly misleading."
He pointed out worst case scenario modelling in 2020 around the number of intensive care beds required was never realised.
"While modelling is an important tool to help guide decision-making, it is just one of a range of tools and cannot be viewed in isolation," Professor Kelly said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also said it was very unlikely Australia would reach 200,000 new daily cases.
"(It's an) extreme case scenario that assumes that nobody does anything, nobody gets boosters, there are no changes that take place, no one exercises commonsense," he told the Seven Network.
But the Australian Medical Association said the Doherty Institute's modelling throughout the pandemic had been pretty on the mark.
"I'm confident in the numbers," vice president Chris Moy told the Nine Network.
"The million dollar question is ... how many people are going to end up in hospital and in intensive care wards."
National cabinet is set to discuss mask requirements indoors and advice about whether three jabs will be required for someone to be considered fully vaccinated.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is considering bringing boosters forward from the current five month interval.
About 1.5 million people have received a booster shot out of an eligible group of around 3.1 million.
Mr Morrison called on states to ramp up their booster programs.
His office cited an overall decline in state government vaccine hubs from 957 to 699 between November and December.
The prime minister also said pre-testing requirements for interstate travel were clogging up clinics, particularly in NSW and Victoria.
"That's resources that can be also going towards supporting these vaccine hubs. And so we need to work through some of those issues as well today," he told the Nine Network.
The national double-dose vaccination rate for people aged 16 and older has surpassed 90 per cent.
NSW reported 3057 new infections and two more deaths on Tuesday, while Victoria recorded 1245 new cases alongside six additional deaths.
Meanwhile, South Australia reported 154 new infections, Queensland 86, the ACT 16, the Northern Territory 14 and Tasmania four.
© AAP 2021
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