By: Matthew Doran Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed a massive change to Australia’s coronavirus vaccination program, announcing anyone under the age of 40 can now approach their GP and request the AstraZeneca vaccine. Pfizer is the recommended vaccine for Australians under the age of 60, with states and territories now allowing people aged between 40 and 59 to book ...

By: Vanessa Brown NSW residents will have an extra month to use their Dine and Discover vouchers, the State Government has announced. Speaking to media on Tuesday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and state Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said that residents will have until the end of August to use the vouchers – and will also have the ability to use the ...

By: Jack Derwin As lockdowns sweep four of Australia’s capital cities, government support is leaving some of Australia’s smallest and most vulnerable sole traders out in the cold. This week, the New South Wales government announced grants of $5,000 and $10,000 for small businesses and sole traders hurt by two week of stay-at-home orders in Sydney and wider restrictions applied more broadly ...

A woman who travelled from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast while the Victorian capital was in lockdown has tested positive for COVID-19, Queensland’s Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has confirmed. Ms D’Ath said a 44-year-old woman left Victoria on June 1, travelled through New South Wales and crossed the Queensland border on June 5. Victoria’s lockdown had already started by the time the woman ...

Melbourne will take its first small steps out of lockdown on Friday, as the Victorian government resists calls from business for a “snapback” to an open economy sooner. The city’s lockdown will end at 11:59pm on Thursday and Melburnians will be able to leave their house more freely, but must remain within a 25-kilometre radius of their home. Outdoor gatherings ...

By: Georgia Hitch Qantas will offer a range of perks to people who are vaccinated to encourage more people to get a COVID jab. The company flagged the idea last week, but CEO Alan Joyce has revealed more details of the plan, which will be launched in July. “We are putting in a discount for people who have had the vaccine,” he told ...

By: Tom McIlroy Melbourne’s spike in new COVID-19 cases is already driving bigger uptake of vaccines, with a record 15,816 doses delivered across Victoria in the 24 hours to Wednesday afternoon. A record for doses administered around the country – 104,658 jabs in 24 hours – was also achieved, as data collected by The Australian Financial Review showed about 2 per cent of ...

By: Jade McMillan Doctors are calling for a more effective communications strategy to convince people to get COVID-19 vaccines, warning Australians are “sitting ducks” until a much larger portion of the population is protected. Vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, Chris Moy, said he was worried too many Australians felt safe from the virus to the point where they were ...

By: Paul Karp Scott Morrison has confirmed that Australia has bought 25m doses of Moderna’s vaccine, set to be the fourth Covid-19 vaccine in the Australian rollout and its second mRNA vaccine. In a statement, Moderna announced it could supply 10m doses to Australia by the end of the year and a further 15m would arrive in 2022. The vaccine is ...

By: Olivana Lathouris Prime Minister Scott Morrison has denied criticising the European Union over Australia’s shortfall of COVID-19 vaccines but maintained the government was expecting an extra 3.1 million doses it never received. “Any suggestion that I, in any way, made any criticism of the European Union yesterday would be completely incorrect,” Mr Morrison told reporters this morning. “I simply stated a fact – that 3.1 million ...