Good morning all.

1. The vaccine wars intensify. Yesterday, Scott Morrison said tensions in Europe were to blame for the missed target of four million vaccinated Australians by the end of March. The European Commission blocked 250,000 doses to Australia in early March, and the Sydney Morning Herald reports that a further 3.1 million are held up because AstraZeneca hasn’t applied for them to come to Australia on the assumption they’ll be knocked back.

2. Here’s the interest rates announcement, you’ve all been waiting for. The Reserve Bank has – drum roll please – left them steady at 0.1%. It comes as Governor Philip Lowe and the RBA board are left waiting for the full impact of JobKeeper to become apparent at the end of May. In the meantime, the RBA remains concerned that “unemployment is still too high” and “will be monitoring trends in housing borrowing carefully.”

3. The trans-Tasman travel bubble will open on April 18, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed. This means quarantine-free flights between Australia and New Zealand. “Conditions for opening up quarantine-free travel with Australia have been met,” Ardern said Tuesday. But, she warned, New Zealand will reserve the right to “continue, pause, or suspend” incoming flights, depending on perceived risk of COVID-19 infection crossing the Tasman.

4. There could be more travel bubbles on the horizon, too. Health authorities are reportedly exploring quarantine-free bubbles to select Asian and Pacific destinations, like Singapore, Fiji, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as possibly Japan and South Korea (though their case numbers are higher right now).

5. The debate over Australia’s minimum wage has reignited, as industry and workers part ways on how to rebuild after the pandemic. In submissions to Fair Trading’s annual review, the hospitality and retail sectors have both warned against making any minimum wage increase for 6 to 12 months until the economic outlook becomes clearer. The unions claim the federal government has given its tacit approval to freezing minimum wages, blasting it as “hypocritical” after it cut JobKeeper.

6. Uber Eats created nearly 60,000 ‘work opportunities’ through 2020, claims a new report. The “Making delivery work for everyone” paper, released Monday by the company, suggests delivery work supported vulnerable workers through the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive spin on gig economy work – which offers few protections or entitlements compared to regular employment – comes just days before a NSW Government taskforce reveals new safety guidelines for the booming sector.

7. The Sydney Opera House is launching a streaming service that it wants to compete in Australian and international streaming markets. The service was developed in collaboration with New York-headquartered video software company Vimeo. Head of digital programming Stuart Buchanan told Business Insider Australia the Sydney Opera House is joining a wider movement toward democratising live performance through streaming services.

8. Jeff Bezos says he and Amazon support a US corporate tax increase to pay for the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan. “We recognise this investment will require concessions from all sides,” the Amazon CEO said Tuesday. Under Biden’s plan, the tax rate for corporations would increase to 28%, up from 21%. It comes – perhaps not coincidentally – as Amazon battles a strong unionisation effort in Alabama.

9. A European official said Tuesday there was a link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and blood clots. Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccines at the EMA, said the mechanism causing the brain blood clots wasn’t yet clear. The clots are most common in younger women, he said. Cavaleri added that the benefits of AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, still outweigh the risks of side effects.

10. While Australia struggles with vaccines, the US seems to be flying ahead. Biden announced Tuesday that all US adults would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 19. About 32% of Americans have received at least one vaccine dose and nearly 19% are fully vaccinated. Of course, the situation in the US is a tad more pressing.

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By all means, educate youself.

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