Australia secures more Covid vaccines amid lockdowns

Canberra, Aug 15 Australia has acquired extra 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines amid the country's major cities currently subject to lockdowns to battle recent outbreaks, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

He said that 1 million additional Pfizer doses will begin arriving in Australia from Sunday night after an agreement was reached with Poland, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Earlier today, a plane left Dubai, having left Warsaw last night," he said in a press conference here.

The 1 million doses will be targeted to Austral aged 20 to 39 years.

Following advice from the Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly, 530,010 doses will be prioritised for express delivery to the 12 Greater Sydney local government areas where the Covid-19 outbreak continues to grow.

"These young Austral are often the backbone of our essential workforce and these doses will not only protect them, but their loved ones, their state and our nation," Morrison said.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) recorded two new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the third day of its seven-day lockdown, taking the number of active cases in Canberra to nine.

The ACT on August 12 imposed strict restrictions after reporting its first coronavirus case in the community in over 12 months.

It makes Canberra another major Australian city currently subject to a lockdown with strict restrictions also in place in Sydney and Melbourne.

As of Sunday, there has been 38,657 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Australia, with 953 deaths.

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