The bank’s chief executive, Ross McEwan made the announcement after Prime Minister Scott Morrison set a vaccination target of 70 per cent for Australia’s path out of the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday.
“National Cabinet’s agreement on a planned phasing out of restrictions, in line with increasing vaccination rates, provides Australians and the nation’s businesses with some certainty and confidence that a future beyond significant COVID-19 impacts is within reach,” Mr McEwan said.
“I’m pleased to see a vaccination target of 70 per cent of Australians over the age of 16, to enable us to move to a phase that allows greater freedoms for those who are fully vaccinated and 80 per cent to remove reliance on broad lockdowns of our cities and states. NAB’s own research shows eight in 10 people already intend to get a vaccine, which gives me confidence this is an achievable target.
“It is encouraging to know that if we do our part and get vaccinated, we can look forward to enjoying some of the freedoms we have all lived without since this pandemic began. Until then, we live with the likelihood of ongoing disruptions to our everyday lives.”
During his address on the weekend, Mr Morrison said it possible that the 70 per cent target can be achieved by the end of the year. Once the country reaches 80 per cent, lockdowns are expected to be completely eliminated.
“I’m committed to supporting the Government with a potential corporate vaccine rollout. We are exploring how we could use our major buildings as hubs to offer our 31,000 colleagues vaccines, similar to our annual flu shot program,” Mr McEwan said.
“In the meantime, I have asked every people leader to speak to every colleague about making use of paid pandemic leave, sick leave or flexible working policies to go and get the vaccine, when they’re eligible and able.
“For every NAB employee who gets vaccinated, NAB will pay for the vaccination of someone in need in some of our neighbouring countries like Fiji and PNG, through UNICEF’s ‘Give The World A Shot’ program.”
