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 A lifting of restrictions in the country's most populous city and
its surrounds in New South Wales state would be a boost for Prime
Minister Scott Morrison, under intense pressure https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australian-pm-morrisons-approval-rating-slumps-slow-vaccine-rollout-2021-07-18
for his government's handling of the vaccine rollout, with the
threat of a second economic recession in as many years looming.
New South Wales, which accounts for a third of all activity in
Australia's A$2 trillion ($1.47 trillion) economy, has struggled to
contain a surge of cases of the highly infectious Delta variant in
Sydney despite the lockdown, currently due to be lifted on Aug. 29.
While the state on Tuesday reported another 199 locally acquired
COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours - near a 16-month high of 239
infections recorded in one day last week - Premier Gladys
Berejiklian said curbs could be eased if six million people in New
South Wales are vaccinated by the time the lockdown is due to end.
"Six million jabs is roughly half the population with at least one
or two doses," Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. "That gives us
additional options as to what life looks like on 29 August."
Berejiklian didn't say exactly how many in New South Wales were
fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, but said the state is on course to
meet its vaccination target. She cautioned the number of people in
the community while infectious would also need to come down.
Although Australia has largely kept its COVID-19 numbers relatively
low, with just over 34,500 cases and 925 deaths, its national
vaccination rollout has hit several roadblocks due to changing
medical advice on AstraZeneca doses over blood clot concerns and
supply constraints for Pfizer inoculation.
The target in New South Wales comes just days after national premier
Morrison promised lockdowns would be "less likely" once the country
inoculates 70% of its population above 16 years of age - a long way
from the current 19% level. Morrison expects to hit the 70% mark by
the end of the year.
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 On Tuesday Morrison rejected the idea of
offering people financial incentives to boost
vaccination rates.
"If [Australians] do have hesitancy about
vaccine, I am not going to pay them off,"
Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
The PM also released the modeling behind the
national strategy which showed Australia would
need to vaccinate seven in 10 people to control
the spread of the virus without economically
damaging lockdowns.
The modelling, by the Peter Doherty Institute
for Infection and Immunity, also called for
younger Australians to be the next focus of the
vaccine campaign.
Once vulnerable Australians were inoculated,
"uptake by young adults (aged 16 and over) will
strongly influence the impact of vaccination on
overall transmission", notes published alongside
the modelling said.
The lockdown of Sydney is expected to see the
Australian economy shrink in the current
quarter, and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has
warned the length of the stay-at-home orders
will determine whether a recession can be
avoided.
Despite the ongoing threat to the economy, the
Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday said it
would stick with its plan to taper bond buying
from September, contravening marketing
expectations.
Meanwhile, Queensland state said on Tuesday it
has reported 16 new COVID-19 cases in the past
24 hours, the highest daily number of new cases
in a year.
($1 = 1.3578 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Colin Packham in Canberra and
Renju Jose and Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by
Kenneth Maxwell)
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