Australia may not open up its borders to the rest of the world even after everybody is given a Covid jab, the country's health minister has warned.
In a press conference on Tuesday, health minister Greg Hunt said 'vaccination alone is no guarantee that you can open up.'
The country has recorded 29,437 cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, as well as 909 deaths.
Its borders have been shut since March last year and will remain closed until at least the middle of June.
Speaking to journalists at the briefing in Canberra, Mr Hunt said: "If the whole country were vaccinated, you couldn't just open the borders.
"We still have to look at a series of different factors: transmission, longevity and the global impact.
"And those are factors which the world is learning about. But we are opening up internationally to New Zealand, within the coming days for two-way travel. We’re already opened to New Zealand."
He went on to say that Australia would then look at other countries within the Pacific and the region that were 'potentially low-transmission environments.'
He added: "And as we've said, this year will be about progressively opening up. And that’s what the Prime Minister has tasked his Department to work on, with all of the states and territories.
"So a series of safety milestones as we progress forward, which allow us to open up."
Meanwhile, Australia has abandoned the goal of vaccinating all of its nearly 26 million population by year-end, after rare cases of blood clots among some recipients of AstraZeneca doses.
This prompted Australian officials to recommend that those younger than 50 receive the Pfizer vaccine instead, throwing the vaccination programme into disarray.
Australia's immunisation drive was heavily reliant on the AstraZeneca vaccine, with plans to manufacture 50 million doses in the country.
Australia has reported zero or low single-digit cases for most days this year helping authorities to ease restrictions.
