The Informer: Vulnerable kids eligible for Pfizer; jabs redirected from the regions

About 220,000 immuno-compromised 12 to 15-year-olds, or children with underlying medical conditions, Indigenous children, and children in remote communities will be eligible for a Pfizer shot from next Monday, August 9, under phase 1B of the vaccine rollout.

All this while Pfizer jabs have been redirected from a number of NSW regional centres.

Take Newcastle teacher Michelle Masters, for instance. She's had her second Pfizer shot cancelled at the Belmont hub. Now she has no idea when she'll get a second shot. And she's not impressed.

"You read all the facts from NSW Health and they say if you've already had one vaccine, your second one won't get cancelled. And if you're in the teacher priority group, you won't get cancelled.

"To get mine cancelled when they said they wouldn't, I'm annoyed. I'm in the over 40s, I'm eligible, yet my vaccines have been taken away."

It's the same scenario in the NSW Central West, the Riverina, the New England, the Mid-North Coast and the South Coast.

One MP is understanding, saying that: "This is temporary, to fight an emergency down in Sydney and to hopefully stop it before it spreads and crashes through our own front door."

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, who fought a quite public battle with COVID-19, went on to say: "I'd much rather us throw everything at it down there, rather than waiting until it reaches us here before we act."

Exactly how tolerant communities are - and for how long - remains to be seen.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd also said he is "very concerned" about the severity of the Delta variant.

"We are seeing increased transmissibility and likely increased severity of disease being caused by the Delta variant," the professor said.

And, on cue - Queensland health authorities confirm as much. They have identified a number of exposure sites outside the populated and largely locked-down south-east corner, after a person infected with COVID-19 travelled to Rockhampton, about 600 kilometres north.

And don't think it's just Aussies who are keen to publicly express their displeasure at increased government intervention during the pandemic. Rallies took place in Berlin despite a ban on protests imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic over the weekend.

Thousands of protestors and police clashed, water cannons were used and hundreds were arrested.

For some time protests have been largely organised by Querdenken 711, a group "for fundamental rights". The groups' Twitter bio explains further: "the lateral thinking demos are not anti-corona demos, but demos for the restoration of our fundamental rights."

A number of people were allegedly injured at the Berlin rally, although details are scant.

"We have been preparing for a very energy-sapping operation this entire weekend," said the police spokesperson. Just as the case may be across a couple of Australian states in coming days.

Let's finish on a high for humanity - and highlight the value of politely asking a simple question.

After hours of Olympic competition Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi were tied for first place. When asked about the ensuing jump-off to determine the winner, Barshim asked if they could have a gold each. They could, an official confirmed. Beautiful.

Did you know you can receive this daily digest by email? Sign up here

THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW: