Australia hits vaccine milestone as Melbourne cases hover near record levels

More than half of Australia’s adult population were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Friday, authorities said, as they step up inoculations in the hope of easing restrictions while cases hover near daily record levels in Victoria state.

Victoria on Friday reported one more death and 733 new infections, its second biggest daily rise in the pandemic, down from the record high of 766 on Thursday. Most cases were detected in Melbourne.

The national vaccination rate rose to 50.1% after two million doses were administered over the past seven days.