- Western Australia’s Premier, Mark McGowan, announces a COVID-19 vaccination plan, which includes about 75 per cent of the state’s workforce
- The plan is a phased approach, with two groups of workforces subject to mandatory vaccination by a certain dates
- Group one will need to be fully vaccinated by the end of the year and includes community care workers, corrective services, fire and emergency and WA Police
- Group two will need to be fully vaccinated by the end of January, which includes supermarkets, restaurants, pubs, post offices and child care workers
- Additionally, there is a third group who will need to be fully vaccinated to attend work in an event of a lockdown or similar restriction
Western Australia’s Premier, Mark McGowan, has announced a COVID-19 vaccination plan, which includes about 75 per cent of the state’s workforce.
The plan is a phased approach, with two groups of workforces subject to mandatory vaccination by certain dates.
The first group will need to be full vaccinated by the end of the year, which will include border and air transport, staff working in remote Aboriginal communities, community care workers, corrective services, WA Police, Fire and Emergency and abattoir workers.
Notably, this list adds to the already announced FIFO, healthcare, hotel quarantine, port and hospital workers.
Group two will need to be fully vaccinated by the end of January, which includes supermarkets, restaurants, pubs, post offices, child care, petrol stations and hotel workers
Additionally, there is a third group that will need to be fully vaccinated to attend work in an event of a lockdown or similar restriction.
This group includes bottle shops, pet stores, newsagents, journalists and other media services, mechanics and many more.
Groups 1 and 2 of industries employ about 60 per cent of WA’s workers. With the inclusion of the lockdown group, these groups represent about 75 per cent of the WA workforce.
Exemptions are limited and are available on medical grounds from the Australian Immunisation Register.
“Mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for more than half of WA’s workforce sets out a safe and clear framework for industries and workers, based on our expert health advice,” Mr McGowan said.
“WA needs to be prepared for community transmission – by mandating our essential and critical workforces we can maintain services, and businesses can continue to operate safely in the long term.”
“The time is now. I want to make it abundantly clear that everyone who is eligible should get the COVID-19 vaccine now as we all need to be prepared for the event of community transmission or a lockdown.”
WA has the slowest vaccine rollout in the country, with roughly 57.04 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated with 74.29 per cent having received one dose.
The state is predicted to reach 70 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated by mid-November, with 80 per cent likely in late November.
Employers will face a $100,000 fine if they are found to have employees who aren’t vaccinated and individual employees could see a $20,000 fine.
Health Minister Roger Cook said the “danger from Delta is very real” and that we don’t want anyone to experience the long effect of COVID.
“The message is clear – you need to act now. Don’t wait before it’s too late,” he said.