Canberra-Australia has purchased an additional million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine from the European Union as it accelerates its vaccination program, Scott Morrison said.
The acquisition will boost Australia’s A $ 2 trillion ($ 1.5 trillion) economy. As a result of the blockade of Australia’s two most populous cities, Sydney and Melbourne, there is a risk of a second recession over the years.
These blockades will continue until 70% of the country’s population of about 26 million are fully vaccinated, which is not expected until late October.
But Morrison said millions of doses would arrive later this week. Australia has ordered 25 million vaccines from Moderna.
“There’s some good news today. Family-wide hopes for our vaccination program,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
In Australia, 73,610 COVID-19 cases have been recorded since the outbreak of the pandemic. The death toll increased by 7 to 1,091.
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, reported on Sunday 1,262 COVID-19 cases acquired locally in the last 24 hours. This is a reduction from the 1,599 infections recorded the day before.
In neighboring Victoria, 392 cases of COVID-19 infection have been reported in the last 24 hours, a slight decrease from the 450 cases recorded in the previous state.
Meanwhile, Australia’s third most populous state, Queensland, said on Sunday that it was not necessary to order a blockade after it was detected to have zero COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours.
On Saturday, the state reported five cases of COVID-19, and Prime Minister Anastasia Parashek warned that a blockade might be needed to stop the spread of the virus.
However, the state said the test had not yet detected any further cases, avoiding the need for such measures.
“We haven’t left the forest yet, but this is the best result we could have expected at this point in the outbreak,” Queensland Deputy Premier of Queen Steven Miles told reporters in Brisbane.
Colin Packham
