Australia news LIVE COVID-19 cases continues to rise in NSW Victoria and ACT Dan Andrews lashes federal governments Pfizer vaccine allocation

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Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp has addressed last night’s illegal gathering in Melbourne’s south east.

As we mentioned earlier, police will hand down a dozen or so infringement notices after a group of people gathered at a synagogue to mark Jewish New Year.

Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp. Credit:Joe Armao

Scenes outside the place of worship turned ugly when a group of people berated journalists for reporting on the unfolding situation. A cameraman was taken to hospital with a suspected concussion.

Here’s what Ms Capp had to say about the matter on Seven’s Sunrise earlier this morning:

It is really so disappointing when the majority of people are doing the right thing.

We are all making sacrifices at the moment to be able to suppress the spread of the virus and to see scenes like this is very disheartening. Not just from a health perspective, of course â€" that is vital â€" but also in all of the efforts to get our city to reopen as soon as possible.

These sorts of incidents really set us back.

It is very selfish because every day people are making sacrifices. They are finding ingenious ways to go ahead with services, to bring congregations together, to make sure they can continue to provide community support and get people involved without physically coming together.

We are so close to the finish line now ... please stay strong and stay focused.

A federal Liberal MP is calling for her locality to be removed from NSW’s list of areas of concern, labelling the curfew rules ridiculous.

In the last month, there were 45 cases in Burwood, in Sydney south west, while in the City of Sydney, which is not a local government area of concern, there were 474 new cases. In Randwick, in the city’s east, there were 246 cases.

Liberal MP Dr Fiona Martin. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

It’s prompted questions about why Burwood remains an LGA subject to the strictest rules, including curfews, while others with greater case loads are not.

“It’s very difficult to understand,” Member for Reid Fiona Martin told radio station 2GB earlier this morning.

“In Burwood, the rates are just not adding up to being a risk justifying the [very difficult] lockdown in Burwood, especially as the vaccination rates continue to increase.”

Dr Martin said there was limited evidence curfews were effective.

“They’re just ridiculous,” she said.

“Over the last couple of weeks they have proven ineffective.”

Earlier in the outbreak, some police had been calling for curfews on the basis that it would make their enforcement duties easier.

A federal government tally has revealed NSW received more Pfizer vaccines than its share of the population over the past seven months as Premier Daniel Andrews demanded 340,000 extra doses from Canberra to rectify the “secret” and “under the table” arrangement.

Health Minister Greg Hunt acknowledged that NSW had received urgent help to deal with its outbreak and said the Commonwealth would redress the balance “very quickly” to make sure all states received their fair share.

Premier Daniel Andrews was unimpressed with a ‘national plan to vaccinate Sydney’.Credit:Chris Hopkins

With new figures confirming that more Pfizer doses went to NSW, including a significantly greater volume to hundreds of GPs and primary care clinics, Mr Andrews and other Labor premiers accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of favouring his home state.

“I signed up to a national plan to vaccinate our nation, not a national plan to vaccinate Sydney,” Mr Andrews said.

The full story is available here.

Sydney’s lockdown and vaccine roll-out has prevented almost 5000 deaths and almost half a million COVID-19 infections, modelling shows, and the death toll in hotspots could have been as high as 5800 without targeted vaccination and harsher restrictions.

Modelling from the Burnet Institute, a medical research organisation, reveals the extent to which the 11-week lockdown in Greater Sydney and a surge in vaccinations has prevented far more case numbers and deaths.

Mass vaccination in Sydney has saved lives, modelling shows. Credit:Brook Mitchell

The modelling suggests the harsh restrictions in south-west and western Sydney and half a million extra Pfizer doses have thwarted more than 580,000 cases and 5808 deaths between June and December.

The 530,000 Pfizer doses sourced from Poland alone prevented 24,267 infections and 254 deaths, as outlined by the modelling simulating the 12 areas of concern and the rest of Greater Sydney.

Read more about the modelling here.

Australians will begin using an international vaccine passport within weeks to prove their immunisation status overseas and on their return as the Prime Minister flags home quarantine will be key to reopening borders.

Scott Morrison is also asking state and territory leaders how they plan to integrate vaccination certificates into existing check-in apps and for their timelines on introducing home quarantine.

Australians will have access to an international vaccine passport from next month.Credit:James Brickwood

The federal government will start issuing international COVID-19 vaccination certificates from October and is also in talks with other countries to work out which vaccines will be recognised in international travel bubble arrangements.

The Australian vaccine passports for international travel will be available either on travellers’ phones or in printed form. Mr Morrison has previously promised overseas travel can resume more broadly when states reach the 80 per cent full vaccination threshold.

So far 39 per cent of the eligible population â€" or more than 8 million Australians aged 16 and over â€" are fully vaccinated.

More on this story here.

A stand-off at a Ripponlea synagogue has ended with police taking the details of worshippers who gathered to mark Jewish New Year, saying each will be fined for breaching public health orders.

This masthead was told members of an Orthodox Jewish congregation entered the synagogue about 5am on Tuesday and indicated they would refuse to leave until nightfall.

Police take details from people outside the synagogue on Tuesday night.Credit:Eddie Jim

The synagogue door was opened about 8.20pm. Fewer than 10 people filed out before the media was forced to move away from the scene when a group of people who had gathered outside became aggressive, pushing cameras and yelling insults at journalists.

Read the full story here.

Good morning and thanks for your company.

It’s Wednesday, September 8. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s everything you need to know before we get started.

Sydney’s lockdown and vaccine rollout has prevented almost 5000 deaths in NSW and almost half a million COVID-19 infections, according to modelling from the Burnet Institute. The state recorded 1220 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. Premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW’s health system will be able to cope when the number of hospitalisations peak in the coming weeks.

In Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews has asked for an extra 340,000 extra Pfizer doses after a federal government tally revealed NSW received more vaccines than its share of the population. Health Minister Greg Hunt says the situation will be addressed quickly. Victoria recorded 246 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. Worshippers in the city’s south east will be issued fines after breaching public gathering rules. And reappointed Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has promised a positive vision for Victoria in order to get the state “back on track” after months of lockdown.

ACT recorded 19 new, locally acquired cases of COVID-19 yesterday. The territory’s lockdown is due to continue until at least Friday, September 17.

There were no new coronavirus cases in Queensland or WA yesterday. WA Premier Mark McGowan and Qld Health Minister Yvette D’Ath have made similar comments about Pfizer allocations as Victoria’s Dan Andrews. They’re accusing the Morrison government of “playing politics” with the vaccine rollout.

And New Zealanders living outside Auckland are returning to work and school this morning, subject to density limits and mandatory mask-wearing. The country’s restrictions were downgraded late last night, but its biggest city remains in lockdown until at least next week. NZ yesterday reported 21 new cases of COVID-19 in the community.

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