Australia will fully reopen its borders to all vaccinated visa holders from February 21, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, nearly two years after he shut the border to non-citizens to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
Australia closed the border in March 2020 but began allowing skilled migrants, international students and backpackers to enter the country in December.
“If you’re double-vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia,” Morrison said during a media briefing in Canberra.
The news sent shares of travel and airline stocks surging, with Qantas up more than 5% and travel operator Flight Centre rising more than 7% in afternoon trade.
Strict border controls and snap lockdowns had helped Australia to keep its coronavirus numbers far lower than many comparable countries, but cases have hit record highs in recent weeks fuelled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Morrison adopted a ‘push through’ approach to dealing with Omicron that saw him rule out lockdowns and tough restrictions ahead of a federal election due before May.
Around 2.4 million cases have been recorded since the first Omicron case was detected in Australia in November. Until then, Australia had counted around 200 000 cases. Total deaths stand at 4 248 since the pandemic began.