Sydney Vaccination Rate Soars, Daily COVID-19 Infection Cases Begin To Drop

The Prime Minister of the State of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian. (Twitter/@GladysB)

JAKARTA - Sydney's daily COVID-19 infection cases fell for a third straight day, although still around record infection levels, as vaccination rates spike in the city's worst-hit western suburbs.

Australian authorities have pledged to ease the lockdown in Sydney, which has entered its eleventh week, which has not succeeded in stopping the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 if it can achieve a vaccination rate of 70 to 80 percent.

"Don't miss it when we start opening. When we open 70 percent double dose, it's only for those who are vaccinated", New South Wales State Prime Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, said at a news conference in Sydney on, Tuesday, September 7 citing Reuters.

More than 80 percent of adults in the three worst-affected local council areas west of the city have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said, much higher than the 74 percent for the state as a whole and the national average of 63 percent.

A total of 1,220 new infections were detected in New South Wales, mostly in Sydney, down from 1,281 a day ago. Meanwhile, eight new deaths were recorded in the state, bringing the total deaths in the latest outbreak to 139.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant, leaving more than half of Australia's total population of around 25 million people, is under strict lockdowns such as those in Sydney and Melbourne. In addition, the increase in infection cases led the State of Victoria to join New South Wales in abandoning its target of zero COVID-19, opting to increase its vaccination program.

To date, about 38 percent of Australia's adult population have received the full COVID-19 vaccine, far less than in many other comparable countries. However, until now the handling of the pandemic in the Kangaroo Country is slightly better, recording 64,600 cases and 1,052 deaths.

As New South Wales races with vaccinations, Victorian Prime Minister, Daniel Andrews, has accused the federal government of allocating more vaccines 'under the table' for Sydney.

"I signed a national plan to vaccinate our nation, not a national plan to vaccinate Sydney. We need to get a dose that we don't get quickly", Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

Separately, Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said he disagreed with Andrews, urging all Australians to be vaccinated.

More than 61 percent of Victoria's adult population has had at least one dose. A total of 246 new local infection cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state as of Tuesday, steady on the previous day.