10 things you need to know this morning in Australia James Hennessy
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New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern is expected to announce the start date for a trans-Tasman bubble with Australia today. Based on the fact Air New Zealand is now selling a hugely increased number of quarantine-free flights across the Tasman from April 19, I think we can safely guess when that might be.
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A bit of AstraZeneca vaccine news about. Experts are concerned that the hospitalisation of a Melbourne man with blood clots after he was given the shot will reduce public confidence in the vaccine. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said on Monday that it is “likely” the blood clot is related to the COVID-19 vaccine.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: A medical worker prepares a dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca s COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Antwerp, Belgium March 18, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia on Tuesday said it had not yet received more than 3 million doses of previously promised AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses amid export curbs by the European Union, leaving a major hole in its early nationwide inoculation drive.
Authorities had pledged to administer at least 4 million first doses of the vaccine by end-March, but could only vaccinate 670,000 after the European Union blocked AstraZeneca vaccine exports to Australia in the wake of the drugmaker’s failure to meet its shipment pledge to the bloc.