COVID-19: Australian PM wants lockdown to continue until 70% of population is vaccinated

A day after Australia witnessed a record rise in the number of daily Coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday backed the country's lockdown strategy to contain the spread of the virus. He also said that lockdown will continue until at least 70% of the population is fully vaccinated. On Saturday, the country's South Wales and Victoria states reported a total of 886 cases with Sydney logging the highest number of cases, the city is also the epicentre of the Delta variant-fuelled outbreak. Morrison-led government has envisaged a plan to vaccinate 70-80% of people before allowing Australia's borders to reopen. In an interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp, Morrison said that lockdowns can't go on forever and at some point, a change in the gear is needed and that will be done once 70% of people are fully vaccinated. 

Hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters arrested

Meanwhile, on Saturday, August 21, hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters were arrested in Sydney and Melbourne. Over 1,500 police officers were deployed on Sydney's streets to prevent an unauthorised anti-lockdown protest. New South Wales and Victoria, the country's two most populous states, are under a strict lockdown. At least 65 locally acquired cases were recorded from Victoria - the state which is in its sixth lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic.  According to data released by the country's health ministry only about 30% of people have been fully inoculated so far. The reason behind this low number is less supply of Pfizer shots as well as the distrust of people on AstraZeneca vaccine, said the health ministry. 

11% Australians deny getting vaccinated 

The health ministry said that the vaccination's pace has picked up recently as supplies increased amid the fear of the Delta outbreak. The country has been struggling to battle the third wave of infections that began in Sydney in mid-June.
Although the latest outbreak has raised concerns in the country, Australia's COVID-19 numbers are relatively low compared to many developed countries, with just over 43,000 cases and 978 deaths. It should be mentioned here that at least 11% of Australians said they will outrightly refuse to take the vaccine, a Newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper suggested.

Image Credit: AP