Vaccination rates surge in Sydney's hard-hit suburbs as cases dip

Sydney: COVID-19 daily infections in Sydney fell for a third straight day on Tuesday but still lingered near record levels as the outbreak spurred a spike in vaccination rates in the hard-hit western suburbs of Australia's largest city.

Officials have promised residents in Sydney, the epicenter of Australia's worst coronavirus flare-up, more freedom once vaccinations reach first 70%, then 80%, as a lockdown now into its eleventh week fails to quash the Delta variant. "Don't be left behind when we start opening up. When we open up at 70% double dose, it will be only for those who are vaccinated," New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a media briefing in Sydney, the state capital.