As it happened Victoria COVID updates: State records nine new local cases, more exposure sites added; Delta variant could extend Melbourne lockdown

That ends another day of our a live and free coverage of the coronavirus.

Here’s a summary of the main news for the day:

• Victoria recorded another nine fresh cases up till midnight on Sunday on top of the two cases in the Arcare rest home in Melbourne’s west which were announced over the weekend;
• Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton gave a strong indication that the return to more normal life from lockdown would be gradual saying: “It is certainly not a snap back to large gatherings and a full MCG”;
• The government removed more than 50 exposure sites from the official list as close contacts placed in quarantine in the early stages of this outbreak clear their 13th day tests;
• NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a Sydney radio station that the states should be receiving vaccinations based on their population. This is in response to the federal government’s decision to provide Victoria with an additional 100,000 Pfizer doses; and
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he is “hopeful” the Victorian lockdown will be lifted soon, comparing restrictions to those used in NSW over summer where lockdown rules focused on certain affected areas. Mr Morrison said returning to in-person school classes should be a particular priority.

Thanks again for reading. We’ll see you for more tomorrow morning.

Across the country states and territories were using about 84 per cent of their dose allocation.The ACT has used all its allocation so far. Victoria and Tasmania were next, at 93 per cent, while Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory were using the least, at 72,70 and 65 per cent respectively.

Western Australia has used 76 per cent, while NSW has used 72 per cent.

Vaccine Operations Centre boss Commodore Eric Young said there was no evidence to suggest that the states are stockpiling anything.

“There’s approximately 4400 sites across the country, there’s a raft of different reasons why doses may or may not be administered in each of those sites,” the Commodore said.

“We had seen over the last couple of weeks, utilisation, particularly in Victoria, rise dramatically. Based on that there’s no evidence to suggest that they’re holding vaccine in reserve.”

Professor Kelly said the federal government has always kept second dose supplies.

“The states do not need to keep contingency,” he said.

Australia’s medical regulator is considering allowing children over the age of 12 to be vaccinated with Pfizer.

The country’s Chief Medical Officer confirmed the Therapeutic Goods Administration has received a proposal from the pharmaceutical giant that has also gone to medical regulators around the world on the safety and efficacy of their vaccine for the 12 to 15 year age group.

“They are examining that information, other regulators similar to the TGA have accepted the safety, efficacy and quality proposal,” Professor Kelly said.

“It will be a matter for the TGA but I suspect that they would go along the same line, but the timing of that, I’m unclear.”

At the moment, the vaccine is approved for use in people aged over 16. All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people over 16 can now get the vaccine.

The UK approved the vaccine for use in 12 to 15-year-olds late last week, while the US approved it for that age group in early May.

Health authorities have been busy “shedding” some of the older listings from Victoria’s official exposure site list this afternoon.

At 1.30pm there were 351 sites on the list of locations visited by a person with COVID-19 after the addition of a Metro train line late on Sunday night. But by about 3pm the number of sites had fallen to 298 as older exposure locations were removed from the official list.

The move was flagged by Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton at today’s press conference as he announced that more than 1000 primary close contacts have now been released from isolation after completing 14 days of isolation and registering a negative day-13 COVID-19 test. You can check all the current exposure sites on our searchable map that has been updated with all the recent changes.

Vaccine Operations Centre boss Commodore Eric Young said the government’s focus is on completing vaccinations for older Australians, with four aged care facilities still waiting for first dose visits around the country.

Vaccination teams will also start pivoting to residential disability setting, where just 7077 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine more than three months into the rollout.

“We have completed 84 per cent of aged care facilities, and we expect to conduct 290 of those this week,” Commodore Young said.

All 596 aged care facilities in Victoria have received first dose visits, but 139 were still waiting for second doses.

Roving clinics were continuing to visit facilities in Victoria that had already had a first dose visit to offer vaccines to people who may have missed out or turned it down initially.

More than one-third of the record 832,000 vaccines administered across the country last week were given in Victoria.

More than 327,000 doses were administered through state and Commonwealth clinics in Victoria, with 59 per cent of people aged over 70 and 43 per cent aged over 50 having now received at least one dose of a vaccine.

The state has more than 640,000 doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines available, Vaccine Operations Centre boss Commodore Eric Young said.

“There are approximately 320,000 doses of vaccine available in state hubs, and another 325,000 doses of vaccine available across the primary care network in Victoria,” he said.

Last week the federal government distributed more than 920,000 doses of vaccines across the country, and this week will be even bigger.

“This week will be our biggest week; 1.1 million doses will be distributed to 2500 locations across the country,” he said.

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly encouraged all eligible Australians to get vaccinated.

“Many more people are now eligible in Australia to get vaccinated. I really encourage anyone who is in any of those groups that are now eligible to be vaccinated, to get out there, roll up your sleeve and get the jab,” he said.

We’re hearing varying reports on the wait times at vaccination centres.

Western Health tweeted a bit over an hour ago that there were no queues at the mass vaccination hub it manages at the Melbourne Showgrounds.

Meanwhile one of our staff who finished early went to the convention centre for a drop-in jab after hearing in the daily press conference that wait times were only two hours at all sites.

When they arrived it had stretched to three hours and she will need to try again another day.

You can use the form below to let me know what you’re seeing out there.

Australian government Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly and Commodore Eric Young held a media conference on Monday afternoon where they provided an update on the vaccine rollout and other issues.

It’s a staple of lockdown life conversation – how much longer do you think this will go? All Victorians have developed a radar for this, listening to the language used, watching the cases and creating a best guess.

So I thought it would be good to ask readers what you think, based on what we know at the moment.

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