AUSTRALIA, UK, NEW ZEALAND: Australian officials plan to roll out COVID-19 booster shots soon to prevent a resurgence of cases, as residents in the two largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne begin to enjoy more freedoms after months-long curbs.
Australia has ditched its COVID-zero strategy in favour of suppressing the coronavirus, after largely stamping out infections for most of this year, and is now aiming to live with the virus through higher vaccinations. Officials are gradually shifting their focus to booster shots as double-dose vaccinations levels in Australia's adult population nears 75%. Almost 87% of people above 16 have received their first dose since the national rollout began in February. Amid a surge in vaccinations, Victoria on Monday logged its lowest rise in daily infections in nearly three weeks at 1,461, while cases dipped for the fourth straight day in neighbouring New South Wales (NSW) to 294. Melbourne exited its sixth lockdown during the pandemic. Sydney lifted its lockdown two weeks ago.
Double-dose vaccination rates in Victoria's adult population will top 80% by then - a level where masks will not be mandatory outdoors and people free to travel throughout the state. That rate neared 85% in New South Wales.
Meanwhile, British health officials on Friday said they were formally looking into a subvariant of the Delta strain of the coronavirus, after it was seen in a growing number of cases.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a public health protection body, said AY.4.2, which was last week seen in six percent of cases, had been "designated as a variant under investigation" but not yet a "variant of concern". "The designation was made on the basis that this sub-lineage has become increasingly common in the UK in recent months, and there is some early evidence that it may have an increased growth rate in the UK compared to Delta," the agency said. - FRANCE 24
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