Faced with a new Covid-19 outbreak, the Australian government has promised to start vaccinating more people in February instead of March as planned.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said regulators were now expected to approve the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine by the end of January.
He announced plans on Thursday as the cities of Sydney and Melbourne struggled to control the new Avalon collections.
Vaccination Plans
By March, four million Australians could be vaccinated, he said.
“We are now in a position where we believe we will be able to start vaccination in mid-to late February,” Mr Morrison said.
After legal approval, the country’s first order for Pfizer’s tens of millions of vaccines should be issued within weeks.
Authorities have also signed an agreement with AstraZeneca, which developed a vaccine with Oxford University, to produce doses locally. Approval for the policy is expected in February, Mr Morrison said.
With the approval of both vaccines, Australia aims to vaccinate 80,000 people each week early and speed up, the government said. It aims to vaccinate four million people by early March.
The priority groups in the first round include the 700,000 frontline workers in the health sector, border enforcement and care homes, along with the residents of care homes.
Following that, Australians over the age of 70, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders over 55, health workers, elderly people with medical conditions and emergency workers will follow.
COVID Cases In Australia
The two cases of infection are related to the authorities in the country, where the number of cases and deaths are relatively low.
A total of 28,500 coronavirus infections and 909 deaths have been reported since the outbreak began. In contrast, the US, the worst-hit country, has recorded more than 21 million cases and at least 362,000 people have died from the disease.
Mr Morrison added that authorities were trying to stop the spread of the Covid-19 infectious strain that was first identified in the UK. A number of people who come to Australia have been diagnosed with the condition.
Globally, Israel is the leader in vaccinating the most number of people, followed by United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to a global tracking website affiliated with Oxford University.
