COVID-19 immunity lasts for at least 8 months say Monash Uni experts

80 new COVID cases in Victoria, 28 in community

Victoria has recorded 80 new cases in the past 24 hours to midnight. That will pour some cold water over the hopes of those who were expecting the lockdown 6.0 to end next week. It is still possible though remote as it may seemingly look with numbers worsening.

Good news is 67 of the new 80 cases are linked to current outbreaks. But what is of concern to the authorities is that only 39 were in quarantine throughout their infectious period, leaving 28 infected Victorians in the community while infectious.

All of the 80 cases were locally acquired.

The other factor concerning Victorian Health authorities is the fact that more and more younger Victorians are getting infected. Young people with children and teenagers now make up a third of Victoria’s 538 cases.

In the 11 weeks from 1 June to 23 August, 37 per cent Victorians infected with the virus were under the age of 20 and more than 50 per cent are under the age of 30.

Perhaps heeding to the appeal of Daniel Andrews One Million Vaccinations, Victorians are now increasingly booking to get vaccinated. More and more younger Victorians are coming forward to book to get vaccinated.

After people between the age of 16- to 39 became eligible for Pfizer in the state yesterday, 95,000 bookings made.

Addressing numerous complaints from Victorians on waiting times to make a booking to get vaccinated, Acting COVID Commander Naomi Bromley said there was an extraordinary demand and the system was managing well.

“We thank everyone for their enthusiasm and patience, and if you can’t successfully make a booking, please try again later today or tomorrow,” she said.

More than 1.3 million people had tried to call the booking centre, Ms Bromley said adding online booking had been receiving 53,000 hits per minute.

As the lockdown 6.0 faces a little elongation given the numbers, schools in Victoria and in particular the VCE students are the focus of the government’s attention. As a result, VCE students in Victoria have been declared a priority for vaccinations.

Also read: New Mystery cases, Low Testing Rates has Authorities Worried

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said he was particularly concerned about Year 12 students in their final months of school.

“The priority for us is to make sure that all final year students have received their vaccination before they start sitting their exams on 4 October,” he said.

“That is our priority.

“Whether that is through the many state vaccination hubs we have got across Victoria, whether it is through GPs or whether it is through GPs or whether it is through participating pharmacies.”

For students in the age group of 12-15 years, approval for the Pfizer vaccine is being looked at to make way for the secondary schools to be able to operate as normal in the post COVID pandemic times.

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