Coronavirus Update: Australian state of Victoria confirms 5-day lockdown, NZ kicks-off vaccinations
|Mixed news coming in from down under, as New Zealand kicks off its covid vaccinations drive from February 20 while a five-day lockdown is being confirmed in the Australian no. populous state of Victoria.
It appears that the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is received in New Zealand earlier than expected.
The jabs would be received by the NZ border workers first, followed by their household contacts. Healthcare workers and high-risk people like the elderly would be next and vaccinations for the wider population start in the second half of this year.
Meanwhile, in its OZ neighbor, the Cabinet in Victoria has confirmed a five-day lockdown, starting Friday midnight, after a minor outbreak in the state capital of Melbourne, with 13 cases.
Further, the Australian state of Queensland announced that it will close its border to Greater Melbourne, the site of the most recent coronavirus outbreak, effective Saturday 01:00 AM (local time).
Market reaction
The market mood remains tepid amid a quiet Asian affair so far this Friday, with AUD/USD under mild bearish pressure below 0.7750. The kiwi also follows suit and heads towards 0.7200 once again, down 0.09% on the day.
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