CANBERRA, Aug 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia acquired an extra one million doses of vaccine, amid the country’s major cities currently subject to a lockdown, to battle outbreaks of COVID-19.
Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, announced the deal today, saying, one million additional Pfizer doses will begin arriving in Australia from tonight, after an agreement was reached with Poland.
“Earlier today, a plane left Dubai, having left Warsaw last night,” he said in a press conference, in Canberra this morning.
The one million doses will be targeted to Australians aged 20 to 39 years.
Following advice from the Chief Medical Officer, Prof. Paul Kelly, 530,010 doses will be prioritised for express delivery, to the 12 Greater Sydney local government areas, where the COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow.
“These young Australians are often the backbone of our essential workforce, and these doses will not only protect them, but their loved ones, their state and our nation,” Morrison said.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) recorded two new cases today, the third day of its seven-day lockdown, taking the number of active cases in Canberra to nine.
The ACT on Thursday imposed strict restrictions, after reporting its first case in the community in over 12 months.
It makes Canberra another major Australian city, currently subject to a lockdown, with strict restrictions, also in place in Sydney and Melbourne.
As of yesterday afternoon, there had been 38,657 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the number of locally acquired cases in the previous 24 hours was 493, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health.
Today, New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s most populous state, with Sydney as the capital city, reported 415 new locally acquired cases and four deaths.– NNN-AGENCIES
