By Hope NewsroomMonday 9 Aug 2021NewsReading Time: 2 minutes
Today’s headlines from the Hope News team. You can listen to hourly bulletin updates at hopenews.com.au.
The vaccination rollout has begun this morning for Year 12 students from hot-spot zones.
Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney Olympic Park is being used to distribute the vaccine, with hopes 20,000 shots will be administered this week.
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Young Australians can start getting the Pfizer COVID jab from today.
Children aged 12-15 with underlying medical conditions, and children in Indigenous and remote communities will have access to the vaccine.
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A dozen suburbs in the Penrith local government area are now subject to tighter rules as Sydney enters its seventh week of lockdown.
The suburbs have been added to the hot-spot list, meaning residents can only shop or exercise within 5km of home and workers can’t leave unless they are on the authorised list.
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A state Liberal MP said she’s going to introduce a private members’ bill to ban companies or the government from forcing employees to get a COVID jab.
Tanya Davies said the government needs to educate the community, not force it into vaccination.
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We’re being reminded we don’t need to wait until tomorrow night to complete the Census.
Households can complete the Census online from now, or by paper form if they request one.
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Overseas, three firefighters have been injured tackling a huge bushfire in the US state of California.
Meanwhile, hundreds more people have been forced to flee their homes in Greece as firefighters struggle to contain huge wildfires there.
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The Taliban has captured three regional capitals in Afghanistan as it continues to gain territory in the country.
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The world has farewelled the Olympics, but it’s only for three years.
The Closing Ceremony in Tokyo has been attended by only a fraction of athletes, due to COVID protocols forcing competitors to leave Japan within 48 hours of competing.
The Olympic Flag has been passed to the Mayor of Paris, which will host the Games in 2024.