Australia: The country buys Merck's experimental anti-COVID-19 pill

Australia to buy 300,000 doses of Merck & Co's experimental antiviral drug COVID-19, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today, as Victoria recorded the highest number of daily cases of any state in the country in the past 24 hours since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic.

Molnupiravir, which will be the first oral antiviral drug taken for COVID-19 if it receives regulatory approval, could reduce the chances of death or hospitalisation for people at greatest risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19, according to experts.

“These treatments show that we will be able to live with the virus,” Prime Minister Morrison told Nine News as Australia is preparing to reopen its borders next month for fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents. This drug is expected to be available in Australia early next year.

Merck announced last week that it plans to apply for emergency use approval for its drug as soon as possible to US regulators and to proceed with requests to regulators worldwide.

Australia, moreover, has stepped up the pace of its vaccination campaign, with Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities, and the capital Canberra on a weeks-long lockdown to fight the most contagious Delta strain of the new coronavirus. The percentage of the adult population across the country vaccinated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine is expected to reach 80% later today.

In Victoria, 1,763 new cases were reported, exceeding the record number of 1,488 announced on Saturday, and the state hopes to begin reopening once its adult population vaccination levels reach 70%, which is expected to happen around the end of this month, and now stands at 53%.

Sydney, meanwhile, the country's largest city, is expected to come out of lockdown on October 11, the first Monday after it is expected to meet the target of fully vaccinating 70% of its over-16 population, and today announced the lowest number of new cases in a single day in seven weeks. New South Wales reported 608 new cases, the majority in its capital, Sydney, and 7 new deaths.

Western Australia

Meanwhile, Western Australia today announced that it will require everyone working in the natural resources sector to get a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine from December to help protect vulnerable Indigenous communities as it begins to open up the country after pandemic.

People working in mining, oil and gas extraction should get the first dose of vaccine by 1 December and should be fully vaccinated by 1 January, the government announced. The order also applies to any employees who are airlifted in and out of remote facilities and any visitors to those facilities, according to the government.

“The new guidelines will address the risks posed by the movement of workers in the natural resources sector (...) to and from regional and remote areas in Western Australia, as many facilities and operations are located in or near remote Aboriginal communities,” state Premier Mark McGowan explained in a statement issued jointly by the state's Departments of Mines and Health.

Western Australia, which produces more than half of the world's iron ore and about half of the world's lithium, is home to major mining companies such as BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue.
There are also about 141,000 workers in the natural resources sector in this state.

Western Australia was among the most shielded regions in the world during the pandemic, largely managing to keep the virus at bay by keeping state borders closed, but Prime Minister Morrison is now lobbying state leaders to open their gates and learn to live with the virus.

Australia closed its borders to international arrivals in March. Morrison said last week that international flights will resume next month.

Western Australia has recorded just 1,109 cases of the new coronavirus and 9 deaths from COVID-19 in a population of around 2.7 million and has managed to avoid the months of loctowns observed in the country's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.

The state has also fully vaccinated 54% of its population, which is higher than the 46% of the fully vaccinated population in the country.