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Europe;Poland
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Students wait for their turn to receive their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Sydney. /Dean Lewins/AFP
Poland has sold one million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to the Australian government, as the country struggles with a new outbreak in Sydney and the Delta variant spreads across Australia.
Poland Health Minister Adam Niedzieslki said the sale of the vaccine doses to Australia was part of a "responsible policy of solidarity" and that the country has enough doses to satisfy the need of its population as well as helping others.
Poland has fully vaccinated around 55 percent of its population, but the rate of vaccinations has slowed significantly in recent months, as up to a quarter of Poles say they're either opposed or hesitant to get jabbed.
After reporting a spike in the number of new infections, Sydney entered a snap lockdown on Saturday.
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday that half of the extra vaccines purchased from Poland will be used to vaccinate 20- to 39-year-olds in New South Wales, as cases are increasing in the state at an alarming rate.
On Sunday the state reported 415 new infections in the latest 24-hour period – the second-highest tally of the pandemic.
"Within days of landing in Australia, these extra Pfizer doses will be available to go into the arms of young Australians in our hardest-hit COVID hot-spots," Morrison said on Sunday.
"These young Australians are often the backbone of our essential workforce and these doses will not only protect them, but their loved ones, their state and our nation."
Visitors relax by Sydney harbor as Australia's biggest city implements tighter COVID-19 restrictions, including heavier fines and tighter policing to contain a Delta variant outbreak. /Saeed Khan/AFP
Only about 24 percent of Australians above the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated so far, as the country didn't have enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is considered the safest to use on young people.
The Melbourne-based Doherty Institute modeling identified young people aged 20 to 39 as the "peak spreaders" of the virus.
The doses from Poland will arrive to Australia on Sunday night. The Australian government didn't disclose how much it paid for the Polish doses.
