Australia Health Minister Hunt: We will bring forward eligibility for booster dose to four months

Anil Panchal FXStreet

Australia finally matched market expectations of shortening the gap between two vaccine doses and a booster, after staying silent over the move in Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

Australia Health Minister Greg Hunt took the honor to announce the same on early Friday morning in the Asia-Pacific zone. It’s worth noting that the previous gap between the two shots of covid vaccines and booster dose was five months. ABC News first shared the comments as follows.

Key quotes

On the basis of advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), it's no surprise we will be bringing forward the eligibility for the booster dose to four months as of 4 January.

The planning behind that is that will open up a new cohort.

Currently that means that we will go from about 3.2 million people who are eligible today to approximately 7.5 million who will be eligible as 4 January. That means that the cohort has expanded.

It will be expanded again on the 31st of January to three months and that will take it out to 16 million Australians who will be eligible at that point in time.

192,000 booster doses were administered yesterday.

FX reaction

Despite the upbeat news, AUD/USD keeps taking round to the monthly ascending resistance line, near December’s high of 0.7253, amid a quiet session.

Read: AUD/USD: Bulls battle monthly resistance around 0.7250 amid upbeat sentiment

Author

Anil Panchal

FXStreet

Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.

EUR/USD slumps below 1.1750 as USD benefits from risk-aversion

EUR/USD comes under renewed bearish pressure in the European session and trades below 1.1750 following a recovery attempt earlier in the day. The US Dollar gathers strength and weighs on the pair as investors seek refuge in the wake of Israel and the United States' joint attack on Iran.

GBP/USD targets 1.3500 barrier near moving averages

GBP/USD rebounds from the daily losses, trading around 1.3450 during the Asian hours on Monday. The technical analysis of the daily chart indicates an ongoing bearish bias, as the pair trades within a descending channel pattern.

Gold surges on safe-haven demand, tests $5,400

Gold benefits from intense risk-aversion on Monday and climbs to the $5,400 region, setting a fresh monthly-high in the process. Tensions in the Middle East remain high as Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange strikes following the US-Israel joint attack on Iran over the weekend.

Bitcoin on brink of breakdown amid US-Iran war

Bitcoin (BTC) remains under pressure near the key support level of $65,700. Trading at $66,400 at the time of writing on Monday, a breakdown below this critical level would suggest a deeper correction ahead.

The week ahead: Conflict in the Middle East jolts markets

Events in the Middle East are obviously dominating financial markets this morning. The Brent crude oil price is extending gains and is higher by more than 8%, stock futures are pointing lower and the gold price is higher by more than 2%.

Pi Network Price Forecast: Core team offloads supply, weighing on PI recovery

Pi Network hovers below $0.1700, broadly steady at press time on Monday, attempting a recovery after a 2% loss the previous day. Sunday’s decline aligned with nearly 49 million PI tokens offloaded by the Pi Foundation, implying a spike in supply pressure that capped the prevailing four-day recovery.