Australia’s NSW Floods Hamper Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
Published Date: 3/23/2021
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
Torrential rain and flooding in parts of Sydney and along the New South Wales coast have hampered Australia’s rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine. Western Sydney and the NSW Mid-North coast are bearing the brunt of the relentless downpour that has caused the Warragamba Dam, Sydney’s primary source of water, to overflow for the first time in five years, and caused severe damage to property and roads. Residents in western Sydney were evacuated, about 200 schools have been closed across the state, and public transport has been disrupted with major flooding expected. The downpour is expected to cause disruptions to freight and logistic services across the state with vaccine deliveries likely to be impacted, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said on Sky News’ Sunday Agenda show. The severe wet weather is expected to intensify into the middle of the week and comes as the government moves into the next phase of its vaccine program amid criticism for poor organization and a slower-than-expected start to the rollout. General practitioners were due to begin inoculating patients from Monday, with about 6 million Australians eligible. The drenching comes about a year after Australia experienced catastrophic bushfires that burned more than 6 million acres, and wiped out communities. “We are now envisaging a one-in-50-years event,” Berejiklian said about western Sydney. “The rain we are expected to see in the next few days is beyond anyone’s expectations.” “We can’t underestimate the ferocity of the extreme weather conditions. We’ve gone from extreme drought, extreme bushfires to now extreme floods,” Berejiklian said. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake