Australia receives AstraZeneca vials as it ramps up vaccination drive

FILE PHOTO: A sign for a COVID-19 vaccination clinic is seen as high-risk workers receive the first vaccines in the state of Victoria's rollout of the program, in Melbourne, Australia, February 22, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia received 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine on Sunday, more than doubling the amount of all vaccines shipped to the country so far and allowing the government to ramp up its COVID-19 immunisation drive.

Mass vaccinations for Australia's 25 million people began on Monday after the arrival of a first batch of more than 142,000 doses of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE vaccine.