Australia plans 'major' COVID-19 vaccine delivery, but the destination is a mystery

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to reveal at the G20 summit this weekend where a large delivery of Australia's excess COVID-19 vaccine doses will be donated.

Astra Zeneca Vaccine

Astra Zeneca vaccine in storage. Source: AAP

Scott Morrison is expected to announce a 'major delivery' of COVID-19 vaccines for developing nations at the Group of 20 (G20) summit this weekend, but where they will land remains a mystery.

The prime minister will arrive in Rome, Italy, on Friday for the G20 leaders meeting, where he will speak at first session on Global Economy and Global Health.

It’s expected he’ll call on world leaders to work together so vulnerable nations have access to safe and effective vaccines.
With millions of excess vaccine doses in Australia, Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters on Friday the federal government was in the process of making "another large delivery" of doses to developing nations.

"The final information is being gathered and in the next 24 hours there will be another major delivery," he said.

"The prime minister will be in a position to have that final detail and to announce it at the G20."

No further information has been made available by the Australian government about the destination.

The World Health Organisation has been calling for a moratorium on booster doses until the end of the year as developing nations continue to struggle to access vaccinations.

"We cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected," WHO Director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in August.

But the WHO says immunocompromised individuals must still be able to access a third dose.
The majority of nations in Africa are less than five per cent fully vaccinated, while Australia's closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, is just two per cent fully vaccinated.

Mr Morrison will also call on counterparts to crackdown on social media companies to reveal anonymous users that troll or defame people online.

"We need some common global principles on accountability and transparency for digital platforms. The rules of the real world have to apply to the digital world," he said.

"Social media cannot shield cowards from destroying people’s lives, from bullying young people, from harassment and intimidation."

The prime minister will also raise the issue when he meets with leaders personally.

He is expected to meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Korean President Moon Jae-in as well as Spanish President Pedro Sanchez.


Share
3 min read
Published 29 October 2021 7:26pm
By Pablo Vinales
Source: SBS News



Share this with family and friends