Friendship bubble announced for under-18s
The NSW government has announced the establishment of a “friend bubble” for people under the age of 18 within the state.
The “friend” or “playdate” bubble will allow three young people under the age of 18 to meet up for quality social time.
The members of each bubble must live within the same LGA, or within five kilometres of each other, and any supervising adults must be fully vaccinated.
The new change was signed off by the NSW government and is set to take effect from Tuesday September 21st.
Fifteen-year-old school student Alyssa Horan spoke at the daily NSW press conference to celebrate the announcement.
"Children and young people definitely want to do the right thing and also be able to socialise because lockdown is incredibly isolating for everyone," she said.
"Helping everyone feel connected will undoubtedly benefit their mental health."
Deputy Premier for NSW John Barilaro said the new bubble will come as a reward to both parents and children after months of lockdown restrictions and isolating conditions of at-home learning.
"We're in school holidays, kids have done it really, really tough, parents have done it tough," Mr Barilaro told Today.
"The mental strain, the wellbeing of our kids are important. So the crisis committee made a decision that we'll allow those kids to come together, just like we have the adult single bubbles but that's for the vaccinated.”
"For kids you don't have to be vaccinated and we'll allow some kids to come together during the school holidays."
The announcement comes as Pfizer confirms their COVID-19 vaccine is safe and works for children between the ages of 5 and 11, as well as Moderna becoming widely available for kids.
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