In Greater Sydney, more than 80 per cent of the community transmission cases to date have been diagnosed within the 12 LGAs of concern in the city’s west and southwest. However, cases are now climbing in more central suburbs, where vaccination rates are lagging behind other areas in the city.
NSW Health has urged people living in Glebe, Waterloo, Redfern and Marrickville to be on high alert for symptoms and to come forward for vaccination as soon as possible. Because of the high number of cases, limited supplies of the Pfizer vaccine have been directed to the 12 hotspot LGAs, which has allowed these areas of the city to achieve some of the highest levels of vaccine uptake in the state. However, Central Sydney, including suburbs in the Inner West, the City of Sydney, and some Eastern suburbs like Randwick are falling behind in the state's vaccine rollout. In these areas, just 65 per cent of eligible adults have received their first dose of a vaccine, compared to 75-88 per cent in several of the hotspot LGAs.
Across the state, 75 per cent of adults have received at least one dose of vaccine and 42 per cent have been fully vaccinated. The next major milestone for the state will be a first dose percentage of 80 per cent of eligible adults, which could be achieved within the next week to ten days. Once 70 per cent of the state’s eligible adults have received both doses, there will be certain freedoms allowed for those who are fully vaccinated. What exactly these freedoms will be are yet to be announced, but it’s anticipated that they will include access to restaurants and bars, hairdressers and gyms. Vaccine passports are set to be introduced so patrons can produce their vaccination status when they check-in at a venue.
Daily case numbers continue to remain high, with 1480 cases of community transmission in the 24-hour reporting period between August 6-7, and nine deaths, despite Greater Sydney being in lockdown for more than 11 weeks. However, according to modelling from the Burnet Institute, Sydney’s tough lockdown measures, including the particularly harsh restrictions in the hotspot LGAs, will have saved as many as 5,800 lives before the end of the year.