Governor of Brazil’s São Paulo state, João Doria, says a Covid-19 vaccine could be made available to the public as early as December.

The vaccine, developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, has reportedly shown an immune response of 98 per cent in elderly participants during its phase two trial.

9,000 volunteers across Brazil have so far tested the Sinovac vaccine.

A US senior intelligence official says he was pressured to downplay the threats of Russian election interference and white supremacists.

Brian Murphy of the Department of Homeland Security, claimed in a whistleblower complaint that he was demoted for refusing to alter his reports after the agency’s leadership directed him to do so.

The House Intelligence Committee has asked Mr. Murphy to testify before Congress later this month.

Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has responded to pressure to lift Coronavirus restrictions in regions of the state with no active cases.

Mr. Andrews called the proposal problematic, saying that Victoria does not have the resources to set up and enforce borders between different areas of the state.

Victoria reported 51 new cases and 7 new deaths this morning, pushing the state’s death toll beyond 700.

Two South Australian men have been found alive near Salt creek after a four-day search.

The pair were reported missing on Sunday when their boat disappeared off the South Australian coast.

The men are reportedly in good spirits and not injured and are currently working with police to determine exactly what happened.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland are ramping up early voting methods ahead of the October 31 state election.

Queenslanders will be able to apply for a postal vote from Monday, nearly a month before the election period officially begins.

Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath says the increased access to early voting will help with social distancing.

Queensland reported no new cases of Coronavirus this morning, as the state surpasses one million tests.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk took to Twitter to congratulate Queenslanders for getting tested and said these numbers wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of frontline healthcare workers.

There are currently 27 cases of Coronavirus still active in the state.

Final clinical trials for Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine have been paused after a participant has reported an adverse reaction.

The vaccine has been tipped globally to be one of the first to become commercially available following successful phase one and two testing.

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca has described the halt in testing as a routine response to an unexplained illness. 

Greece’s largest migrant camp, the Moria facility on the island of Lesbos, has been ravaged by fire overnight.

As a result of the blaze thousands of migrants are now without accommodation, and the government has declared a four day state of emergency in response.

Local authorities are struggling to find shelter for those displaced by the disaster, and German foreign minister Heiko Mass has described the fire as a humanitarian disaster.

Legislation passed in State parliament yesterday will see South Australia become the first state in the country to ban single use plastics.

The Government had initially intended to ban the sale, supply and distribution of single use plastic products by the middle of this year, but the impacts of COVID-19 have delayed the move until 2021.

State Environment Minister David Speirs says that plastic items will be removed in stages, with an overarching goal of eliminating them completely.