COVID apartheid takes shape

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The Australian asylum of traitors, rapists and corporate whores that passes for political leaders is swiftly moving the nation into COVID apartheid.

Mad Gladys is on track to begin loosening restrictions in mid-September for the vaccinated:

NSW is on track to have 80 per cent of the adult population vaccinated with one dose by mid-September which will make a difference to the speed at which COVID can spread, an expert says.

Err…since when was one dose immunised? Not by half:

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One of the architects of the modelling behind Australia’s path out of lockdown says New South Wales’ Covid case numbers are too high for widespread vaccinations to contain the virus as envisioned in the plan.

University of Melbourne professor of mathematical biology James McCaw said if NSW case numbers weren’t reduced, “stronger social measures and stronger versions of lockdowns rather than weaker” would be needed even once vaccination rates reached 70%.

Then there is this:

A local software developer has found a simple way to create a fake COVID-19 digital vaccine certificate using the official government app, one that’s indistinguishable from the real thing. His discovery raises concerns about the security of the vaccine passport certificate system.

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To describe this as political risk doesn’t quite cover it:

Ending lockdowns and other public health restrictions once 80% of the adult population is vaccinated could result in 25,000 deaths in total and 270,000 cases of long Covid, new modelling warns.

The work by researchers at three leading Australian universities predicts more than 10 times as many deaths as the Doherty Institute modelling that underpins the national four-phase roadmap. That plan was adopted by national cabinet in July but is subject to different interpretations by state and territory leaders.

Is it any wonder, then, that COVID apartheid is here to stay as Mad Gladys conducts her crazed experiment upon NSW guinea pigs:

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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to be drawn on how Queensland will open up once vaccination rates hit 80 per cent, saying we’re in “uncharted territory”.

Ms Palaszczuk faced questions on the state’s apparent rogue approach to the Doherty plan after Prime Minister Scott Morrison insisted exploding case numbers in NSW do not change the vaccination milestones for easing restrictions and lockdowns but Deputy Premier Steven Miles wouldn’t guarantee Queensland would reopen its border at that point.

And WA:

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Premier Mark McGowan has said those over east need to calm down, keep a cool head and not make any rash decisions, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused some Premiers of navigating away from the National Cabinet Plan for political purposes.

…“Just because the NSW Government has made a mess of it, doesn’t mean the rest of us should have to suffer,” Mr McGowan said.

Last week Morrison was telling us all the only way ahead was lockdowns. This week the only way ahead is vaccines and opening up. His best chance of re-election is a flight to Hawaii.

To be clear, it’s obvious that we are going to have to open up and live with the virus. But it’s not clear that we need to kill more Australians than necessary to make it happen. This includes risking the lives of unvaccinated children, as well as the elderly.

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Doubtless, the full asylum of Australian leaders is playing politics. But only Mad Gladys and Psycho Scott are doing it with Aussie lives.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.