Coronavirus: From strong borders to vaccine passports. Is Australia ready to let the world back in?

The nation has barely begun its faltering COVID-19 vaccine rollout and there is serious discussion about easing international border restrictions.

There are still around 40,000 stranded Australians desperate to get home from overseas. Many of them want the relative safety of Australia away from the third or fourth waves of the deadly and mutating coronavirus elsewhere.

Businesses want a steady supply of workers and the international tourist dollars are sorely missed.

We have been a standout. We are an island nation. We have imposed strong border measures. We are suppressing the virus.

Australia has reported almost 30,000 cases and 910 deaths. Too many, but it could be far, far worse.

But more than a year into this extraordinary pandemic, we all want to get back to "normal".

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison is putting it out there that Australia has to start letting travellers back in sometime. Although he is likely to get significant pushback from some sectors of the community and some state premiers.

There is no doubt the equilibrium of community vaccine coverage and the race to "normality" has to be found. That's the great challenge.

In the meantime, a vaccine passport to certify a jab for international travellers is in the works and the Prime Minister is now flagging the possibility of home quarantine for those returning to Australia - if they have had the jab.

Home quarantine is "the next next sensible step".

This has to be done right as the vaccine rollout accelerates, as all Australia has achieved could be undone.

The Prime Minister has warned people will have to brace for up to 1,000 coronavirus cases a week if international border restrictions begin to be eased.

Australians have been told that we have time to tackle COVID-19. That we have time, on Scott Morrison's "front row seat", to do the vaccine rollout properly.

The rollout has been beset with supply issues, delays, a few confidence battering mistakes and a handful of concerning adverse reactions.

And so it continues and ramps up. It must.

The main concern - as ever - is that COVID-19 is mutating and changing rapidly.

It does not care about borders. It is not giving anyone a grace period.

And, according to the Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, it is not going to stay that way.

"We are in a very unusual situation here in Australia at the moment, with no community transmission and very few cases right throughout this year," Professor Kelly said on Friday.

"That will not continue.

"We will at some point in the future, we do not know when, but we will have cases here in Australia.

"The chances of being infected will increase."

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Until we are all part of widespread vaccination programs, no one is safe.

This is the tight rope Scott Morrison has to navigate over the next 12 months; opening the borders and the Australian economy versus the great risks involved in keeping Australians safe.

As we sharply saw with last month's resounding re-election of Premier Mark McGowan in Western Australia, Australians can be very comfortable in keeping the doors firmly shut.

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