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Australians could have a third coronavirus vaccine available in coming weeks with Moderna expected to join the sluggish rollout.
The company is also considering using Australia as a trial country for children as young as six months if the medicines regulator grants approval.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the government ultimately wanted people of all ages included in the rollout.
"Moderna's looking at a global trial, Australia may be part of that, but that will be subject to all of the technical and scientific advice that needs to be provided," he told Sky News on Monday.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration is expected to approve Moderna for over-16s in coming weeks with around one million doses slated to arrive next month.
That will ramp up to three million in October, while bigger Pfizer shipments are also on the way with two million doses a week set to land from September.
While the rollout is considered one of the slowest in the developed world, Senator Birmingham said Australia was slightly above the global average.
"There will be a very strong supply coming to build on what is already a record rate of vaccination happening now," he said.
Australia has fully vaccinated 22 per cent of people aged 16 and over.
Senator Birmingham is confident the nation can achieve high enough vaccination coverage to ease interstate travel restrictions and reunite families at Christmas.
Infectious disease expert Nick Coatsworth, who is a former deputy chief medical officer, is urging doctors not to block younger people from receiving AstraZeneca.
"If someone comes to them saying they're prepared to accept the risk, then for sure, they should have access to the vaccine," he told the Nine Network.
The expert immunisation panel ATAGI strongly recommends people in outbreak areas like Sydney consider having AstraZeneca.
Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for people under 60 but supplies are short because it is manufactured overseas.
Anyone who provides informed consent can receive AstraZeneca which has links to an extremely rare blood clotting condition.
Children aged 12 to 15 who are Indigenous, have underlying health conditions or live in remote communities are now able to receive the Pfizer vaccine.
ATAGI is considering broadening the rollout to all children in that age group.
The coronavirus crisis in NSW continues with 283 new local infections and one death reported on Monday.
Tamworth will be locked down after an infectious person visited multiple places in the regional centre.
Victoria recorded 11 new cases but none in regional parts of the state which will be released from lockdown on Tuesday.
Southeast Queensland's lockdown ended on Sunday, but Cairns is now under heavy restrictions after a man spent 10 days in the community while infectious.
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Scott Morrison has ruled out enlisting Tabcorp to run a lottery for people who are vaccinated against coronavirus.
The prime minister did not dispute reports senior government officials sought advice from the gambling giant about the design of a lottery.
"We are not proceeding with any arrangement like that with Tabcorp," he told parliament on Monday.
Labor has called for every person who receives both doses by December to be handed one-off $300 payments.
Mr Morrison has fiercely opposed the $6 billion plan and argues offering people extra motivation to be immunised is not immediately necessary.
"The government has got no issues with incentives - what we have a problem with is bad policy."
Defence Minister Peter Dutton last month expressed support for a lottery but noted Tabcorp had pointed out it would need regulatory approval and someone to pay for it.
Mr Morrison had been open to the idea, while vaccine rollout commander John Frewen last week raised a lottery after the opposition sparked debate over incentives.
Lotteries have been used across the United States with prizes of up to $1 million.
Australians could in coming weeks have a third coronavirus vaccine available if Moderna receives approval from the medicines regulator.
The company is also considering using Australia as a trial country for children as young as six months.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the government ultimately wanted people of all ages included in the rollout.
"Moderna's looking at a global trial, Australia may be part of that, but that will be subject to all of the technical and scientific advice that needs to be provided," he told Sky News on Monday.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration is expected to approve Moderna for over-16s in coming weeks, with around one million doses slated to arrive next month.
That will ramp up to three million in October, while bigger Pfizer shipments are also on the way with two million doses a week set to land from September.
Labor's health spokesman Mark Butler said other countries started using Moderna before the government entered talks with the company.
"Australia has the lowest vaccination rate in the developed world, all because Scott Morrison has been so slow to act in procuring deals with Pfizer and Moderna," he told reporters in Adelaide.
Australia has fully vaccinated 22.5 per cent of people aged 16 and over with 13.7 million doses administered since February.
The coronavirus crisis in NSW continues with 283 new local infections and one death reported on Monday.
There are 70 people in intensive care nationally with 67 of those in NSW.
Tamworth will be locked down after an infectious person visited multiple places in the regional centre.
Victoria recorded 11 new cases but none in regional parts of the state, which will be released from lockdown on Tuesday.
Cairns is on high alert for new cases after starting a three-day lockdown because of an infected taxi driver.
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NSW has reported 283 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and at least 106 of those people were circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.
An unvaccinated northern Sydney woman in her 90s has also died, taking the death toll from the current outbreak to 29.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday also announced that the Tamworth area will join the NSW Hunter and Armidale regions in snap lockdown.
Greater Sydney and surrounding regions are in lockdown until at least August 28 as health authorities battle to contain an outbreak of the virulent Delta strain.
Of the 283 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday, 64 were in the community while infectious and 42 were partly in the community while infectious. Some 71 cases are under investigation.
Kingswood Public School will be closed on Monday for cleaning after a member of the school community tested positive for COVID-19. All staff and students have been asked to self-isolate until they receive further advice.
Meanwhile, thousands of year 12 students from eight coronavirus-hit council areas in western and southwestern Sydney will this week get a Pfizer vaccine jab.
Starting on Monday, the mass vaccination push will take place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park until the 24,000 students are vaccinated.
NSW Health vaccinated almost 2000 supermarket and food distribution workers with AstraZeneca on a day it dubbed "Super Sunday" at the vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park.
A dozen suburbs in the Penrith local government are now subject to tougher lockdown rules as COVID-19 continues its spread.
Residents in the western Sydney area will be living under the same restrictions that apply to eight other local government areas in the COVID hotspots.
Overnight NSW Health issued alerts for dozens of COVID exposure sites, including five venues in Tamworth in the New England region.
Meanwhile, Ms Berejiklian is copping friendly fire over the decision to make vaccinations mandatory for tradies and construction workers.
Backbencher Tanya Davies, whose western Sydney electorate takes in those living with tightened restrictions, issued a statement on Monday objecting to the "no jab, no job" rule introduced on the weekend for her constituents who are tradies.
Small Business Minister Damien Tudehope has also admitted that Services NSW has been swamped by applications from businesses requesting emergency financial help.
There are 67 COVID-19 patients in NSW in intensive care, with 29 ventilated.
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As Greater Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown enters its seventh week, thousands of year 12 students from eight coronavirus-hit council areas in western and southwestern Sydney will get a Pfizer vaccine jab.
Starting on Monday, the mass vaccination push will continue all week at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park until the 24,000 students are vaccinated.
NSW Health vaccinated almost 2000 supermarket and food distribution workers with AstraZeneca on a day it dubbed "Super Sunday" at the vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park.
Meanwhile, 12 suburbs in the Penrith local government are now subject to tougher lockdown rules as COVID-19 continues its spread west.
Residents in the far western fringe of Sydney will be living under the same restrictions that apply to eight other local government areas in the COVID hotspots.
Overnight NSW Health issued alerts for dozens of COVID exposure sites, including five venues in Tamworth in the New England region.
Meanwhile, Premier Gladys Berejiklian is copping friendly fire over the decision to make vaccinations mandatory for tradies and construction workers.
Backbencher Tanya Davies, whose western Sydney electorate takes in those living with tightened restrictions, issued a statement on Monday objecting to the "no jab no job" rule introduced on the weekend for her constituents who are tradies.
"Employees should not be forced into COVID-19 vaccination. This is an assault on an individuals' freedoms and civil liberties," she said.
"The people of western Sydney are being discriminated against, penalised and treated like second class citizens based on their vaccination status."
Ms Davies said she was "leading the campaign to legislate that there can be no blanket mandate for COVID-19 vaccinations and to ensure that nobody will be discriminated against based on their COVID-19 vaccination status".
Small Business Minister Damien Tudehope has admitted that Services NSW has been swamped by applications from businesses requesting emergency financial help.
Just 44,000 small businesses had been paid from about 193,000 applicants so all applications were now being automatically paid, he said.
"What we've done is freed up the process to make sure that we automatically process the grants. We will worry about the fraud later," he told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.
Meanwhile , the HSC students getting the Pfizer vaccine this week from the eight council hotspot areas won't be returning to the classroom from August 16, as was originally intended.
Year 12 students from other parts of Sydney will return to school on August 16 but all school assessments and trial HSC exams will take place remotely.
NSW recorded 262 new local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, at least 72 of which were in the community while infectious.
The outbreak has killed at least 28 people.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday reiterated vaccination was the primary means by which to bring the pandemic to an end.
While NSW could not consider returning to pre-pandemic freedoms until it reached 70 per cent vaccination coverage, Ms Berejiklian said some restrictions could be eased with a 50 per cent rate.
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