Mail Online

Lockdown but no jabs? Australia boils over

By Scarlet Howes

PROTESTERS marched through Australia’s largest cities yesterday demanding an end to tough Covid lockdowns.

Police made dozens of arrests in Sydney as thousands of residents revolted against the stay-at-home order, now in its fifth week.

Several police were injured after they were pelted with pot plants and bottles of water, while their horses were also pushed.

In Melbourne, protesters held a ‘ freedom’ rally, which flouted a ban on non- essential travel and public gatherings.

Signs and banners read ‘Wake up Australia’ and ‘Drain the Swamp’ – echoing messages seen at anti-vaccine demonstrations in the UK.

After escaping much of the early pandemic unscathed, about half of Australia’s 25 million population are under restrictions, which the government has suggested could extend until October.

Until recently, Australia’s strategy of border closures, quarantine programmes and snap lockdowns helped keep cases low. But the highly contagious Delta variant has challenged these defences in the past month.

An outbreak in Sydney, the largest city, has infected more than 1,500 people and officials reported 163 new cases yesterday.

Authorities have said they intend to eliminate local cases completely until a majority of people are vaccinated, but in Sydney that strategy could take months.

The state of Victoria, which recorded 12 new infections yesterday, will keep its lockdown until at least Tuesday. In South Australia, there are tight restrictions for the next week after five cases of the Delta variant were found. As well as growing unrest at the lockdowns, there is mounting anger over the government’s failure to secure adequate vaccine supplies.

Just 11 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, with fewer than 150,000 jabs being administered daily.

Professor Raina MacIntyre, of the University of New South Wales, said: ‘You’ve got many more partially vaccinated people than you do vaccinated, and even more unvaccinated people. In that sense, the population is very vulnerable.’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been heavily criticised over the slow rollout but has resisted calls to apologise.

He has emphasised Australia’s success in keeping overall infections low compared with those in many countries, with ‘ only’ 915 people dying of Covid.

The vaccine delay has been linked to supply issues, complacency over low Covid rates, and concerns around AstraZeneca’s rare bloodclotting risk.

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2021-07-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

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