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  • Half a million extra Pfizer vaccines arrive in Sydney
  • Today’s headlines at a glance
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Vic Premier flags further easing as state nears first-dose target

Victorians could be rewarded with extra freedoms in less than a fortnight when the state is expected to hit its first vaccination milestone sooner than the government initially anticipated.

Announcing 183 new coronavirus cases yesterday, Premier Daniel Andrews flagged a further easing of restrictions – beyond what he had outlined last Tuesday – when 70 per cent of the eligible Victorian population has received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Premier Daniel Andrews has urged Victorians not to wait to get vaccinated.Credit:Darrian Traynor

Government sources have said any further relaxation would be focused on permitting social activity, rather than allowing more industries to trade. Public health experts say if cases continue to stabilise, Victorians should be allowed greater freedoms outdoors, in recognition of the cumulative mental toll of successive lockdowns.

Under initial modelling, the state was set to hit 70 per cent single-dose vaccination targets on September 23, but Mr Andrews on Sunday said Victoria was on track to reach the milestone sooner.

Read more about the situation in Victoria here.

More than one in 10 people in NSW with COVID-19 now end up in hospital

More than one in 10 people in NSW with COVID-19 now end up in hospital, although health authorities warn the figure is likely higher given the lag between infection and becoming sick enough to need hospitalisation.

As Sydney braces for case numbers to spike in the coming weeks, the latest NSW Health figures for the Delta outbreak, released on the weekend, show the hospitalisation rate of people with COVID-19 is 11 per cent.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will this week release modelling showing how stretched hospitals will become in October.Credit:Edwina Pickles

Premier Gladys Berejiklian will this week release modelling which she says will show “what is foreshadowed to be a peak in cases but also the peak hospitalisation, the peak in intensive care”.

Read the full story here.

Half a million extra Pfizer vaccines arrive in Sydney

Around 500,000 additional Pfizer vaccines arrived at Sydney International Airport overnight from London.

The shipment is part of a 4 million “dose swap” with the United Kingdom. The additional supplies come as Australia prepares to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds as early as next week.

This snap is thanks to Getty photographer James Morgan.

The extra Pfizer doses are unloaded from a Qantas plane last night. Credit:Getty

Today’s headlines at a glance

Good morning and thanks for your company.

It’s Monday, September 6. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s everything you need to know before we get started.

  • Victorians could have additional freedoms in less than a fortnight. Premier Dan Andrews has flagged easing more coronavirus restrictions when the state hits its 70 per cent first dose vaccine target. Victorians have already been told their 5km travel bubble will be expanded. Further relaxations are expected to relate to social activity outdoors. Yesterday, Victoria recorded 183 new cases of coronavirus.
  • More than one in 10 people in NSW with COVID-19 are now ending up in hospital, according to data from the state health department. There are more than 1000 coronavirus patients in NSW hospitals. Of those, 175 in intensive care. Yesterday, the state recorded 1485 new cases of COVID-19.
  • The ACT reported 15 new cases of coronavirus yesterday. The overwhelming majority of the territory’s cases are in people under the age of 45.
  • Queensland is on high alert after authorities learnt dozens of people didn’t check-in to a shopping centre visited by a COVID-positive truck driver. Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered along NSW-Qld border communities yesterday to mark Father’s Day.
  • And half a million doses of Pfizer have landed in Sydney overnight. The additional doses are part fof a deal with the UK to provide 4 million doses by the end of this month.
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