Australian government launches ‘spread freedom’ vaccination campaign amid Covid-19 3rd wave

People walk in a shopping mall as retail businesses reopen to the public, in Sydney, on October 12. Pic/AFP

The Australian government on Sunday launched the next phase of its Coronavirus vaccination campaign as the country continues to battle the third wave of the pandemic. Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday debuted the government's new vaccine advertising campaign, reports Xinhua news agency.

Dubbed ‘spread freedom', the campaign emphasises the benefits of getting vaccinated against Covid-19 such as the freedom to travel interstate and overseas, reminding people that with increasing vaccinations they are able to return to a more normal and free life.

Till date, 86.6 per cent of Australians have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose and 73.1 per cent were fully inoculated. Lieutenant General John Frewen, the Covid-19 Taskforce commander, said Australia was on track to become one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. "We've now got enough vaccines distributed around the country to double dose all Australians who want to get vaccinated," he told the media in Canberra.

Myanmar schools to remain shut

Myanmar's Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment for Covid-19 has announced further extension of the closure of schools nationwide until the end of October. The move was made in order to curb the spread of Covid-19 and to make preparations for reopening schools, the committee said.

Another side-effect of AZ jab identified

A rare nerve disorder that affects the limbs has been added to the list of possible side-effects of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine by UK regulators, the Daily Mail reported. Guillain-Barre syndrome, which sees the immune system go haywire and starts to attack nerve cells, was added by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Now, a cheaper Covid test for travel to England

Fully vaccinated travellers returning to England from countries not on the travel ban red list can use a Covid-19 negative Lateral Flow Test (LFT) instead of the more expensive Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, under the new rules effective from Sunday, which could boost the country's tourism sector.

UK records over 44K fresh cases

Another 44,985 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of Coronavirus cases in the country to 8,734,934, according to official figures released on Saturday. The Coronavirus-related death toll in the country rose by 135 to a total of 139,461.

44,52,84
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

24,35,06,948
Total no. of cases worldwide

49,46,609
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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