Australia secures extra 500,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses in swap deal with Singapore

Australia has secured half a million doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccines in a deal with Singapore.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the agreement meant 500,000 doses would arrive this week for distribution next week.

“That means there are 500,000 doses extra that will happen in September that otherwise would have had to wait for several months from now,” he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

He said it would accelerate the vaccination rollout as Australia pursues vaccination coverage targets of 70 and 80 per cent of the population aged 16 and above.

It comes on top of 5.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines expected to arrive this month.

Australia will send 500,000 doses to Singapore in December in return.

Earlier in the month, the Morrison government clinched a deal with Poland for an additional one million Pfizer doses.

There were 1,164 new cases in NSW on Tuesday, while Victoria recorded 76 new infections.

Australia’s death toll is 1,006 after the latest three deaths in NSW.

The ACT recorded 13 new cases, prompting Chief Minister Andrew Barr to extend lockdown until at least 17 September.

Source: sbs.com.au