Pharmaceutical company Moderna says it has struck a deal with the Australian government to provide 25 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the nation. 

Moderna says it will provide 10 million doses this year, and 15 million doses of an updated variant booster vaccine in 2022. 

If Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration approves the vaccine, Moderna will join AstraZeneca and Pfizer as vaccines approved for Australians.

The University of Queensland citizen science program CoralWatch has held snorkeling and coral identification classes on Heron Island.

A virtual excursion of the workshops will be produced as an educational tool for remote and disadvantaged students. 

The educational videos unpack the history and formation of the island and coral biology.

Southern Cross School of Distance Education teacher Melinda Ingram said the resource would lift barriers for students who could not visit the reef due to isolation or disadvantage

Queensland’s anti-corruption watchdog found Queensland’s Police Service engaged in discriminatory practices to achieve a 50 percent female hiring target between 2015 and 2018. 

QPS staff manipulated processes, data and language in order to progress women who failed physical, cognitive and psychological assessments in the recruitment process.

Three employees have since been suspended over the matter.

Cross river rail has met strong opposition from the Brisbane city council after proposing more than 100 trucks would cross through the city on Sundays. 

The multi-billion-dollar rail project is currently in the construction process for Roma and Albert street stations. 

Infrastructure committee chairman David McLachlan says Council is concerned about the effect on residents and Brisbane's ability to host events on Sundays.

The Queensland Council of Social Service the federal budget has missed its opportunity to act on the housing crisis in Queensland.

QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh says while the federal budget’s investment in services is welcome, a proper response requires more than services.  She says Domestic violence is the most common reason given for homelessness and there is no funding in this budget to build new social homes in Queensland or to continue a rental investment incentive scheme to support low income earners.

The Queensland chief health officer says there was no need for concern when a Covid-19 positive traveller arrived in Brisbane last week.

The traveller had arrived from Papua New Guinea and News corp had reported that the ground crew fled the plane when doors were open. 

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says the gentleman was a fully recovered case, he was a historical case.

University of Queensland researchers have discovered a molecular pathway they hope will help fight COVID, cancer and other diseases. 

They’ve visualised the protein M-Y-D-eighty-eight, responsible for passing messages from immune cell receptors to the body, triggering the body’s immune response. 

Sometimes the transmission can malfunction, leading to inflammation worsening the body’s ability to fight disease.

Professor Bostjan Kobe and his colleagues hope their study could help develop a way to block these receptors.

The breaking of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is set to take place with the three day celebration of Eid beginning tomorrow.

Muslims around the world are set to celebrate the three-day festival this week with Prayer and big feasts with their family and friends.

Eid Festivals will be held all around the country with Muslim  and non-muslim people ecouraged to join in.

Protestors from Extinction Rebellion are blocking traffic to Parliament House in Canberra today to protest the lack of action on climate change and the allocation of $51 billion towards fossil fuels.

One protestor has reportedly been arrested by police.