Australia is on track to have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Saturday. 80 per cent of Aussies who are over 16-year-old are now fully vaccinated. The ACT has 94 per cent, NSW has 89.7 per cent and Victoria has 84 per cent fully vaccinated adults. WA has the lowest rate of the country with just 66.2 per cent of adults vaccinated. From Monday, people who had their second dose more than six months ago are eligible for their booster shots.
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In other COVID-19 related news, concerns around the cases being detected in regional NSW. Cases in outside Sydney remain high as NSW travel resumes. 73 of the latest infections were detected in the Hunter New England Health district, 37 were reported on the mid-north coast, 21 in Murrumbidgee and 10 in western NSW. There were also cases reported on the Central Coast and Illawarra regions. Sewerage was detected in four Local Government Areas.
A former gambler has spoken out about his path to gambling addiction at Crown Casino, Melbourne. Lawrence Du has spoken out about the marketing techniques used on vulnerable people likening it to an invitation to "gamble your life away". Du gave a testimony saying he went from betting a few hundred dollars a hand to $10,000 a bet. He lost his marriage and his family home to the addiction.
It's good news in Abu Dhabi, as Dave Warner helps the Aussies into the T20 Cup semi-finals. Warner scored a whopping 89 overnight, the highest score from an Australian at a T20 World Cup. The team will take on Pakistan in their semi-final.
Overseas, at least eight people are reported dead and many injured at a music festival in Texas. The incident happened when the fans surged towards the stage during the Astroworld music festival in Huston on Friday. The crowd had gathered for a performance by rapper Travis Scott and began to push towards the front of the stage causing panic and injuries.
Lisa Wilkinson's autobiography has been released this week. She sat down with Canberra Times journalist Karen Hardy to talk about her journalism career starting at Dolly magazine right through to The Project and everything in between. Read about Wilkinson's autobiography It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This here.
With Australia Associated Press.