Covid-19: Australia Secures 10 Million Moderna Vaccine Doses

Australia has secured an additional 10 million Moderna Covid-19 vaccine doses, keeping the country on track to get 70% of its citizens vaccinated by the end of the year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

"This means we have an additional 25 million doses of Moderna to add to the 125 million Pfizer doses and 53 million AstraZeneca doses we’ve already started rolling out," said Morrison. "We have a plan to get to 70% of Australians vaccinated before the end of the year. We can do this because we are doing this."

Australians’ approval of Morrison has fallen to the lowest level since the coronavirus pandemic began, with voters wearying of virus-induced lockdowns amid his government’s tardy vaccine rollout.

Support for Morrison’s handling of the crisis has fallen from 85% in April last year -- when his conservative government imposed strict border controls that helped keep virus fatalities to less than 1,000 -- to 48%, according to a Newspoll survey published in the Australian newspaper.

The government says its vaccine rollout is ramping up and all adults will be offered a jab this year. Yet in the meantime, Australians remain vulnerable to snap lockdowns, with the nation’s two largest cities currently under stay-at-home orders.

While countries such as the U.S. and U.K. have largely opened up with more than half their populations fully vaccinated, just 17% of Australians have received two jabs, among the lowest levels in the developed world.

Sydney is currently in its seventh week of lockdown, with the race to increase vaccinations now key to prospects for an easing of restrictions. Delta is placing increased pressure on Australia’s so-called “Covid-zero” strategy, which has relied on closed international borders and rigorous testing to eliminate community transmission of the virus.

New South Wales recorded 283 new cases on Monday, the vast bulk in Sydney, after posting a record 319 infections on Saturday. The creeping spread of the variant into regional areas of the state was highlighted by authorities announcing that Tamworth -- an inland city of about 60,000 people that’s 250 miles north of Sydney -- will be placed into a seven-day lockdown.

Melbourne recorded 11 new cases on Monday, with regional Victoria state to exit its lockdown from midnight.

Asked whether he was concerned that the Newspoll signaled voters could punish the government over its handling of the pandemic, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said “there are far more important things for us to focus on right now.”

Birmingham said lockdowns would still be needed in Australia “to beat the delta variant and to give us the best chance as a country to maintain our world-leading position in terms of the saving of lives.”

The Newspoll survey was conducted among 1,527 voters across Australia from Aug. 4-7.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained

Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.

To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.

Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake

Connect with us on…

Breaking News on YouTube