Melbourne cases linger near record levels as Australia hits vaccine milestone

COVID-19 infections in Australia's Victoria state hovered near record levels on Friday as authorities stepped up the pace of vaccinations in hopes of easing restrictions with more than half the country's adult population fully vaccinated. Australia is grappling with a third wave of infections from the highly infectious Delta variant that has led to lockdowns in its two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, and the capital, Canberra, affecting nearly half the country's 25 million people.