Morning folks! A bit of AstraZeneca vaccine news today.

1. Scott Morrison said he will again petition the European Union and AstraZeneca for the release of 3.1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, amid a growing diplomatic stoush between the jurisdictions. His statement comes after the Federal Government accused the bloc of “playing semantics” when it denied blocking the export of those contracted doses. Morrison said “supply issues” have constrained Australia’s vaccine rollout, which lags well behind its original targets.

2. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed this morning that Australia has actually not gotten any vaccine shipments from Europe, despite earlier suggestions. Australia’s early rollout has actually been “propped up by 717,000 doses manufactured in the UK” rather than from factories in Europe as has been widely assumed, based on Morrison’s claim they came from “overseas”.

3. Meanwhile, European regulators have flagged rare blood clots as side effects of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. An investigation had examined 86 reported blood clots in vaccinated people, of which 18 were fatal. The regulators said the benefits of AstraZeneca’s shot still outweighed the risks. The UK, however, is offering young people an alternative to AstraZeneca due to the concerns.

4. Now, Australia’s expert medical taskforces are urgently reviewing the latest AstraZeneca advice from Europe and the UK. “The Government has asked ATAGI and the TGA to immediately consider and advise on the latest vaccination findings out of Europe and the UK,” a government spokesperson said. “That advice will be provided to the Commonwealth Government for immediate consideration.”

5. The Australian job market is rebounding strongly as job vacancies hit a record high. Data from Indeed provided exclusively to Business Insider Australia shows job vacancies are 32.2% higher than they were before the pandemic began. With JobKeeper having now ended, ANZ senior economist Catherine Birch said strong growth elsewhere will help offset up to 150,000 job losses.

6. Airlines and travel agencies have reported huge spikes in interest for destinations in New Zealand after the two-way quarantine-free travel bubble was revealed. Reciprocal travel will open at midnight on April 18, allowing travellers to cross the Tasman without undergoing mandatory COVID-19 hotel quarantine. Some travel mainstays remain cautious about the system, acknowledging further lockdowns could pop the fragile bubble system.

7. The agriculture sector in NSW is being offered a 50% hotel quarantine subsidy in a bid to get overseas farm workers back into the country. The sector says crop losses have totalled $52 million in the past five months. The announcement comes as 36,000 Australians who want to return home are still stranded due to inbound flight caps.

8. Australian tech unicorn Canva has rocketed to a new milestone with a valuation of $US15 billion ($19.7 billion). The fresh on-paper valuation comes as the company secures $US71 million in US funding. Canva’s user base increased by 50% during pandemic lockdowns in 2020, the company said. “Now more than ever, organisations of all sizes are doubling down on building a reliable remote workplace, and are turning to modern productivity platforms like Canva to ensure they remain flexible and scalable,” Canva co-founder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht said in a statement.

9. Netflix has its first Australian reality TV show coming down the content pipe. It’s a show about Byron Bay influencers and socialites named – wait for it – “Byron Baes”. Netflix has not yet announced details of the cast or when the series will air.

10. Austin Russell is the world’s youngest self-made billionaire on Forbes’ 2021 list of billionaires. The 26-year-old runs a company that provides the technology for self-driving cars. Russell became a billionaire virtually overnight in December when his company, Luminar Technologies, was listed on the Nasdaq via an SPAC merger. He replaced Kylie Jenner, who was removed in 2020.

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