Morrison also said there would be a "significant impact" on GDP figures that will be published in early September, although he said advice from Australia's central bank suggested the toll would be mitigated in the following quarter.Īustralia has fared better than many other developed economies in keeping COVID-19 numbers relatively low, with just over 32,100 cases and 915 deaths. While the sluggish vaccine roll-out has frustrated voters, the introduction of shutdowns has also taken a toll on Australia's A$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy, which had roared back to pre-pandemic levels after the initial upheaval of early 2020.ĭata published on Wednesday showed retail sales in June slumped 1.8% from a month earlier, nearly four times the drop foreshadowed by economists. He said his government has asked its independent expert panel, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, to relax its conservative advice on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. "I take responsibility for the problems that we have had, but I am also taking responsibility for the solutions we're putting in place and the vaccination rates that we are now achieving." "Those delays are regrettable, we all know they're the result of many factors," Morrison told reporters in Canberra. Under mounting pressure, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday he took responsibility for both "regrettable" delays in the country's vaccination rollout, but also for the solutions to make up for lost ground. The main vaccine in the government's arsenal, developed by AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L), has been recommended for use only for people aged over 60 due to a remote risk of blood clotting, while a vaccine made by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) has been restricted to over-40s due to limited supply. Just over 11% of the population is fully vaccinated. A year and a half into the pandemic, some 13 million Australians are under hard lockdown, raising pressure on the federal government which has seen its polling at its lowest in a year due to a sluggish immunisation program. For much of the pandemic, Australia aimed for zero Covid cases, employing regular lockdowns (the country’s second-largest city, Melbourne, was in lockdown for more than 260 days) and extremely.
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