SYDNEY: Australia has secured 4 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines in a swap deal with Britain, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday (Sep 3), as he looks to convince states and territories to stick to a national COVID-19 reopening plan.
The extra doses should reach Australia this month doubling the available Pfizer supply for September, Morrison said, speeding up the country’s efforts to come out of economically-damaging coronavirus lockdowns.
“The plane is on the tarmac now. It will be leaving tomorrow … this will enable us to bring forward significantly the opportunity for Australia to open up again,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Friday, days after announcing a smaller vaccine swap agreement with Singapore.
Morrison has been criticised for failing to initially secure an adequate supply of vaccines and for a slow roll out which has seen initial vaccination targets delayed by months.
State governments say their vaccination programmes are being hindered by a lack of supply of the Pfizer vaccine needed to innoculate the younger population.
The vaccine deal comes ahead of a meeting of federal and state leaders later on Friday with virus-free Queensland and Western Australia states flagging they may delay their reopening plans due to the escalating Delta outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s largest cities.
More than half the country’s 25 million people are under stay at home orders, with Sydney, Melbourne and the national capital Canberra in prolonged lockdowns. The rest of the country enjoys a mostly COVID-free life, but those states have closed borders to stop the Delta variant entering their jurisdiction.
