Australia's Queensland sets to hit 70 percent vaccination milestone

SYDNEY, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Australian state of Queensland is set to reach its first major, 70 percent, vaccination milestone for over-16 population on Monday, almost one week earlier than previously expected.

Queensland's Health Minister Yvette D'Ath announced the state's double vaccination rate at 69.94 on Sunday. She said the state is guaranteed to hit the 70 percent milestone on Monday.

"This 70 percent target is just the start, we are absolutely on our way to not just meet our 80 percent target, but getting to that 90 percent target," said D'Ath.

She said 81.66 percent of the state's over-16 population had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Once the state reaches the milestone, fully vaccinated Australians living in designated hotspots would be allowed to fly into Queensland but would still be required to undergo 14 days of home quarantine.

Once the state reaches 80 percent of the vaccination rate, quarantine would not be required for fully-vaccinated individuals.

Queensland has consistently managed to keep out the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19, and the state reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday after recording case numbers in the single-digits throughout the week.

Meanwhile, outbreaks in Australia's New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria have continued to simmer down.

NSW reported 195 new locally acquired cases and one death in the 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, a drop from daily reports of over 200 cases in nearly one week.

And, after more than a week of daily case numbers in the 4-digits, Victoria reported 905 new locally acquired cases and four deaths in the 24 hours to midnight Saturday.