The man leading Australia's vaccine rollout has declared the supply issues are over.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
COVID-19 Taskforce Commander Lieutenant-General John Frewen said the success of the nation's rollout now hinges on public uptake, with a push needed in vaccination rates among Indigenous Australians to avoid leaving them exposed once restrictions begin to ease.
In the current Western NSW outbreak, three out of every five people testing positive for COVID-19 are Indigenous.
General John Frewen said with an imminent influx of mRNA vaccines, Australia was on track to ramp up its rollout in September, a month earlier than initially expected.
But that doesn't mean "freedoms" will return tomorrow.
The patchwork of COVID-19 vaccine uptake will keep health measures in place well into 2022, a leading epidemiologist has predicted.
But Professor Catherine Bennett, Chair of Epidemiology at Deakin University said if hospitalisations are kept in check Australia can look forward to a "measured, staged opening".
However, the NSW hospitality sector was given a glimmer of light at yesterday's 11am press conference with state premier Gladys Berejiklian saying "my strong message to the hospitality sector is dust off your COVID-safety plans, things will be reopening in October".
But the door to the pub will only be open to those who can show they have had both doses of the vaccine, the premier warned.
Vaping is about to become illegal
After a misstep, it's about to become illegal to import e-cigarettes without a prescription - which means that, for most Australians, it will become all but impossible to vape from October 1.
The misstep tells us a lot about how the Australian government works behind the scenes - most of it good.
Apple expected to unveil new iPhones
Apple Inc says it will hold a special event on September 14, which most industry watchers believe will be used to unveil a new line of its iPhones.
The tech giant, which launched a redesigned iPhone with 5G connectivity last year, is not expected to make radical changes this year, with most analysts pointing to small technical updates to the phone's processor and camera system.
RBA expects economy to take a hit
Economists expect the economy could contract by as much as four per cent in the September quarter, although Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe anticipates the recovery to resume in December quarter.
The RBA kept the cash rate at a record low of 0.1 per cent at Tuesday's board meeting, a level it expects to hold until 2024.
- with Australian Associated Press