COVID-19: Australia locks down due to delta variant outbreak
Though Australia has handled the pandemic much better than other developed economies, its federal government has come under increasing criticism for failing to ramp up the vaccination program.
So far, just under 15% of its adult population has been fully vaccinated. More than half of its population also remain under strict lockdown measures due to a rise in cases in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Meanwhile, the hard-hit state of New South Wales called on the government to divert vaccine doses to Sydney, the epicenter of the latest outbreak. The country is battling a short supply of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, as its strategy focused more on AstraZeneca, which was deemed unsafe for those under 60 years of age.
Josh Dye, Lucy Carroll and Daniella White17:24, Jul 23 2021
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Residents of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong are subject to stay-at-home orders with people only permitted to leave their homes for essential reasons.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has described Sydney’s outbreak as “a national emergency” after another 136 new Covid-19 cases were recorded on Friday and an elderly man died with the virus. As the outbreak continues to worsen, health officials have recommended vaccines be urgently redirected to prioritise south-western and western suburbs. There were 53 people who were infectious in the community, the highest since the outbreak began, and 17 in isolation for part of the time.
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Australia s medical regulator has provisionally approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) confirmed its decision in a statement on Friday. Provisional approval for use in the 12 to15 years age group has been made following careful evaluation of the available data supporting safety and efficacy, including clinical studies with adolescents 12 to 15 years of age, the statement said.
The vaccine had previously only been provisionally approved for use in Australia for people aged over 16.
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The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) will now consider the decision to provide advice on which groups in the age category are prioritised for the rollout of the vaccine.
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