At today's media briefing (September 24), NSW Premier Gladys Berjeklian confirmed that the state government is pushing ahead with its revised reopening date of October 11. This is despite some concern that the app to verify vaccination may not be ready.
This decision has support with 65% of NSW residents in favour of opening up when vaccination rates hit 70% as shown in a survey undertaken. The original forecast of the 70% being reached was Monday, October 25 but the good response for vaccination saw the date changed to October and now moved to October 11.
There are concerns however expressed by industry and legal experts on the possible additional strain on businesses which are expected to verify the current vaccination certificates. The NSW government has been trying to prepare by integrating federally held vaccination certificates into the ServicesNSW app. However the state’s digital minister Victor Dominello said on Wednesday it was unlikely to be ready on time, saying the government was “moving heaven and earth to get that ready.”
Premier Berjeklian expressed her thanks to the people for coming forward to have vaccination. She is very optimistic that systems and procedures for rewarding fully vaccinated individuals would work effectively.
At today's briefings, the number of new COVID cases and vaccination level are as shown below.
