The Newest: Australia approves AstraZeneca vaccine to be used | Enterprise

By Mitch Rapp On Feb 16, 2021

CANBERRA, Australia – Australian regulators on Tuesday approved the AstraZeneca vaccine as the second vaccine against COVID-19.

Pfizer’s product will be available in Australia next week. It is given in two doses three weeks apart, while AstraZeneca is given in two doses every 12 weeks.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the regulator, had determined that the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe and effective.

Health Secretary Greg Hunt said the AstraZeneca vaccine will prevent serious COVID-19 illness.

Morrison will be vaccinated with the Pfizer product and Hunt with AstraZeneca to demonstrate confidence in both vaccines.

Australia has commissioned 53.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 50 million are made in Australia.

The government has also secured 20 million Pfizer vaccines for a population of 26 million.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

– Hospitals still need to ration N95 medical masks even as inventories swell by millions

– Delays in vaccination make grocers feel dispensable

– India’s dramatic drop in virus cases leaves experts at a loss

– Explanation of the UN vaccination plan for poor countries shortly before the introduction

– Muted Carnival: Closed bars, barricaded Bourbon Street

– Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE HAPPENS WHAT ELSE HAPPENS:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand did not report any new virus cases in the community for a second day, raising hope that the lockdown in Auckland will be lifted on Wednesday.

The three-day lockdown on New Zealand’s largest city was the first in six months.

Legislature says its final decision on how to unblock it will depend on new information or cases emerging the next day.

The lockdown was triggered by the diagnoses of three family members, but how it came about remains a mystery.

The mother in the family works at a catering company that does laundry for airlines and a possible link to infected passengers is being investigated. So far, other people have tested negative in their workplace, officials said.

Health officials ramped up tests, ran more than 15,000 tests Monday, and processed the results of nearly 6,000.

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TEL AVIV, Israel – Dr. Anthony Fauci won the $ 1 million Dan David Prize for “defending science” and advocating vaccines that are now being used to protect people from coronavirus.

The Israel-based Dan David Foundation named President Joe Biden’s chief medical officer the winner of one of three awards on Monday. He was said to have earned a lifetime of recognition in HIV research and AIDS relief, as well as his advocacy for vaccines against COVID-19.

In its statement, the private foundation made no mention of former President Donald Trump, who undermined Fauci’s scientifically-pursued approach to fighting the pandemic. But it credited Fauci with “courageously defending science in the face of uninformed opposition during the challenging COVID crisis.”