Education Minister says Year 12 vaccination is a ‘priority’ as Victoria records 45 local cases

Victoria recorded 45 new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 yesterday.

Of the new cases, nine are not yet linked to current outbreaks.

Two unlinked cases are in Hobsons Bay, while Hume, Melton, Wyndham, the City of Maribyrnong, Moreland, Monash, and Glen Eira have one unlinked case each.

Only 17 cases were in quarantine for their entire infectious period, while 28 were infectious in the community.

It was a big day for testing and vaccination yesterday, with 53,321 test results received and 31,629 vaccine doses administered.

There are now more than 730 exposure sites on the Health Department’s list.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF EXPOSURE SITES HERE.

There are 538 active COVID-19 cases in Victoria.

Of those, 114 are aged under nine, 101 are aged between 10-19, and 89 are in their 20s.

Education Minister James Merlino says getting Year 12 students vaccinated before their final exams is a priority for the state government.

“The priority for us is to make sure that all final year students have received their vaccination before they start sitting their exams on October 4,” he said.

Mr Merlino says the state government will request additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine to get students vaccinated.

The state government has not announced any priority access to vaccination for Year 12 students.

Of the 45 local cases, 36 are linked to current outbreaks and 17 have been in quarantine throughout their infectious period. [2/2]

— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 24, 2021