La Trobe University is the latest organisation to expect their patrons to be fully vaccinated when attending a campus.
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The university issued a statement on Monday that outlined a staged to ensure staff and students are fully protected against COVID-19.
The first stage encouraged staff and students to be fully vaccinated as soon as possible and includes providing vaccination leave for staff.
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La Trobe is setting up a vaccination hub at its Bundoora campus and is exploring similar options for its regional campuses.
"We're incredibly fortunate to have safe and effective vaccines available for COVID-19 that reduce the risk of severe illness," La Trobe University public health professor Vijaya Sundararajan said.
"Bringing the vaccination rate as close to 100 per cent as possible amongst staff and students will enable us to get back to a vibrant on-campus life as soon as possible."
Stage two of La Trobe's proposed plan starts in December. It will be expected that anyone - staff, students, contractors and visitors - attending a campus will be fully vaccinated.
The university will make arrangements to continue work and study for staff and students with a valid medical or legally-recognised exemption from vaccination.
"This is a sensible and ethical plan that will help protect our La Trobe community," La Trobe public health associate professor Deborah Gleeson said.
"La Trobe's roadmap to re-opening will support staff and students by first making it easy to get a vaccine, and then, once everyone has had a chance to be vaccinated, making it essential for those on campus to be fully vaccinated unless they have a valid exemption."
Other regional businesses are also in favour seeing staff and patrons fully vaccinated in order to help the state open up.
Star Cinema business manager Martin Myles said he was in favour of the idea of a vaccination passport as long as it was easy for staff and customers to use.
"For the protection of patrons in general as well as staff and volunteers, we are definitely an advocate for a vaccine passport or what they will call it," he said.
"I just really hope the government makes it easy for people. The strain put on frontline staff when having to ask for ID is great. That combined with making sure people check-in and, now, potentially making sure people are vaccinated - that's not what staff signed up for.
"My sincere hope is government don't rely on human beings to self-service vaccine passports."
Bendigo Health chair Bob Cameron said vaccine passports would aid the health care system.
"When we look at vaccine passports, we have to ask what they're for," he said. "They're not to punish someone because they haven't been vaccinated.
"What they're for is to say 'when we open up more and more, how safely can we do it?'
"Part of the issue will be if there are too many unvaccinated people, and they get coronavirus and spread it about, the health system will grind to a halt.
"So it is really about trying to protect the health system and I think that is part of the future."
Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters said vaccinations were the best way to combat COVID-19 and that vaccination rates in adults should be as high as they are in children.
"About 95 per cent of one-year-olds receive 12 or 13 jabs before their one," she said. "Our vaccination rates in children are really high, that's what we need.
"I understand businesses are willing to do that to open up, they can see they can play a pro-active role in encouraging people to get vaccinated.
"If we can get our (COVID-19) vaccination rates up to really high numbers, we won't need to put the onus on businesses to be this pseudo-police force that makes sure people are vaccinated."
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