A man whose company has invested more than $1 million booking two cruises on Le Laperouse for clients hosting 200 people has slammed the Government’s decision not to let the ship in.The luxury expedition cruise ship has been “hovering”…

Major hospitals from Cairns down to the Gold Coast will act as Queensland's hubs for delivering the Pfizer vaccine.

The six locations will include Cairns Hospital, Townsville Hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Gold Coast University Hospital.

LIVE UPDATES: Positive results for COVID-19 vaccine in fight against mutant strains

"Using these facilities as a base for this rollout means we can manage the logistics of the Pfizer vaccine, which is actually quite complex," Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said.

"It has strict limitations on its storage, transport and distribution which makes it unsuitable for how we would normally rollout a widespread vaccination campaign.

"We have chosen our state's largest hospitals, from the top and tail of our state.

"Queensland will begin this process as soon as we receive the first Pfizer vaccines from the Federal Government".

Priority groups will include quarantine and border workers, frontline COVID-19 health workers, aged care and disability care staff as well as aged care and disability care residents.

Earlier, the sites where New South Wales residents will receive the COVID-19 vaccination were also revealed.

This comes as the state winds back restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.

The state's 11 major hospitals will become vaccination hubs, administering Phase 1a priority groups the Pfizer jab from mid-February.

The hospitals include Royal Prince Alfred, Westmead, Liverpool, Hornsby, St George, Nepean, Newcastle, Wollongong, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga.

People in the first priority group include paramedics, emergency department workers, critical care ward staff, health care staff at COVID-testing sites and those administering the jab.

Transport workers are also likely to be among the first to be vaccinated.

"Once more vaccine doses become available from Phase 1b, it is expected that one or more COVID-19 vaccines will be available for the wider population through usual immunisation providers, including GP practices, GP respiratory clinics and Aboriginal health services," NSW Health said.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – which is expected to be available from the end of March – is yet to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Yesterday NSW recorded its 11th consecutive day of no community transmission.

The run of no local cases has prompted the easing of restrictions, from today.

The wearing of face masks will no longer be required inside shopping centres and supermarkets.

But masks will remain mandatory on public transport, in places of worship and beauty salons and by front of house hospitality staff.

Up to 30 people are now allowed in homes, including children, and 50 people can attend outdoor events such as picnics.

As many as 300 people can now attend weddings, subject to the one person per four-square-metre rule.

The easing of restrictions came into effect the day after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the state's border with NSW will reopen on February 1.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also flagged the "vast majority" of orange zones in NSW will change to green zones as soon as today, paving the way for travel to resume with almost all of Greater Sydney.

And people from Greater Sydney will be allowed to travel to South Australia without quarantining from Sunday morning.

A special needs shelter dog from Ohio is tugging on the heartstrings of animal lovers across the world after being stood up by a potential adopter.

Cute little Jack is a nine-month-old, 13.5 kilogram American Bully pup who has spina bifida.

He can get around, but his club feet make that difficult and he must wear a diaper.

READ MORE: Pet adoptions soar amid coronavirus restrictions

Unfortunately, his condition is permanent.

However, the animal rescue that's taken him in describes him as the "sweetest" boy.

Peaches Bully Rescue in West Chester, Ohio, is caring for Jack and trying to find him a forever home – Especially after a recent adoption opportunity fell through.

The rescue posted the story last Friday, and since then, it has reached more than three million people.

On their Facebook page, the rescue says Jack got all spruced up for the meet and greet appointment, but the person who inquired about him never showed up.

His foster team even had to make a 40-minute drive each way for the meeting.

"Obviously, that wasn't his family," says Peaches Bully Rescue.

Thankfully, his bath and fancy harness and diaper didn't go completely to waste. The rescue says a nice clerk from a nearby Cabela's store bought him a new toy "to help him forget his experience."

READ MORE: Cute animals picked up for just $29

The post telling the sad story has taken off. Peaches Bully Rescue says they have received warm wishes, presents and donations for Jack's care from all around the world, including Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Singapore, Puerto Rico and from all over the US.

The rescue says they have also gotten more than 600 inquiries and 200 applications about adopting Jack.

Peaches Bully Rescue says many adopters are worried because Jack has to wear a diaper. However, they say Jack has already mastered a system, and with the right diet and care, it's not as scary a situation as it might seem.

READ MORE: US officer comforts pit bull allegedly abandoned by dogfighting owners

Unfortunately, Jack cannot go for long walks due to his feet but he is the best couch potato and loves to play with his toys and his humans.

The rescue says Jack has been known to get along with other dogs and cats, but the best kind of home for him is one in which he would be the single pet or one of two.

China has warned Taiwan an attempt to pursue independence from Beijing "means war" as it defended heightened military drills around the island.

A Chinese military spokesman said its military exercises were needed "to safeguard national sovereignty".

Beijing is concerned about perceived growing close links between Taiwan and the US.

READ MORE: China stages naval drills in disputed sea

It also believes Taiwan's democratically-elected government wants to issue a formal declaration of independence, even though the island's president Tsai Ing-wen has insisted that it is already an independent country called the Republic of China – its formal name.

But China regards the island as a renegade province of the mainland and strongly opposes diplomatic attempts by other countries to engage with Taiwan.

Beijing dispatched military aircraft – including nuclear-capable bombers – on two patrols over Taiwan airspace last weekend.

The patrols coincided with the US aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and other warships entering the disputed South China Sea for naval drills as the new Biden administration takes power.

READ MORE: Australia urges cooling of China-Taiwan tensions

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian told a briefing yesterday that the patrols were needed to secure "national sovereignty".

"The military activities carried out by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait are necessary actions to address the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty and security," he said.

Colonel Wu said a "handful" of people in Taiwan were seeking independence, Reuters reports.

"We warn those 'Taiwan independence' elements: those who play with fire will burn themselves, and 'Taiwan independence' means war," he said.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said China on Saturday sent eight bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons and four fighter jets into its air defence identification zone just southwest of the island.

The ministry said China on Sunday sent another 16 military aircraft of various types into the same area.

The new Biden Administration has flagged it will follow former president Donald Trump's tough line against China.

"Let me just say that I also believe that President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China," Antony Blinken, Mr Biden's choice for Secretary of State, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing last week.

"I disagreed very much with the way that he went about it in a number of areas, but the basic principle was the right one, and I think that's actually helpful to our foreign policy."

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to go and visit Far North Queensland's struggling tourism operators after he rejected further federal assistance for the sector.

There are around 10,000 businesses in Tropical North Queensland relying on JobKeeper, which is scheduled to end in March.

The sector supports one in five jobs in the region and relies heavily on international tourists.

READ MORE: Treasurer rejects JobKeeper extension for struggling tourism sector, says states should cough up the cash

Ms Palaszczuk has just returned from a tour of Cairns and surrounds, where she announced a further $60 million in state assistance for local operators.

"I've been up there listening to the operators personally," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"Perhaps rather than Josh Frydenberg name-calling, he could go up there and listen as well.

"They are concerned they are going to fall off a cliff."

Earlier today Mr Frydenberg told Today states should "put their hands in their pockets" in response to Queensland's call to extend JobKeeper for the hardest-hit sectors.

"Our federal economic support has delivered more than three times what the Palaszczuk government has committed to," Mr Frydenberg said.

"We'd welcome the states putting their hands in their pockets and spending a little bit more in their own states as part of the economic recovery."

Ms Palaszczuk rejected the suggestion she hasn't offered enough economic support at a state level, saying her government had injected $11 billion into economic stimulus over the course of the pandemic, and was currently working on further ways to assist the Far North.

Queensland recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 today, and just one case in hotel quarantine – a woman in her 40s who has returned from Pakistan via Doha, Qatar.

https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1354937384211632136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The encouraging figures come as the state marks one year to the day since it became the first state in the country to decare a health emergency to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I can remember very clearly that I called a meeting of the Queensland disaster management committee to look at this issue and ministers had to come back from our caucus retreat to make sure that we were dealing with this issue," Ms Palaszczuk told this morning's press conference.

In that time, Queensland has conducted more than 1.7 million COVID-19 tests and recorded 1309 cases.

"Tragically, six people have passed away and we extend our condolences to those people and five were from cruise ships," Ms Palaszczuk said.

Other key statistics from the past year include:

• 28,000 people joined Queensland's Care Army to look after the state's vulnerable
• 1.2 million vehicles were processed at the state's borders
• 878,392 passengers were processed at Queensland airports

Ms Palaszczuk thanked frontline emergency staff who have helped in the state's response to the pandemic.

Six people have been killed and 10 taken to a hospital after a liquid nitrogen leak at a food processing plant near Gainesville in the US state of Georgia, officials said.

Fire crews from Hall County and Gainesville responded to a report of burns at Prime Pak Foods around 10.12 a.m. Thursday, Zachary Brackett from Hall County Fire Services said.

Units arrived and found a large group of employees that had evacuated, along with multiple people who were experiencing medical emergencies in and around the facility, Mr Brackett said.

Five people died at the scene. One person died after arriving at Northeast Georgia Health System, a hospital spokesman said.

At least nine patients were taken to the hospital in Gainesville. They include three Gainesville firefighters and one Hall County firefighter who had respiratory complaints.

Three patients are in the critical care unit, one is in the emergency department and the other five are in fair condition, the hospital spokesman said.

Mr Brackett said there was no explosion, and the cause of the leak remains under investigation.

The Hall County Sheriff's Office is managing the investigation, he said. Staff from the Georgia State Fire Marshal's Office and Occupational Safety and Health Administration are also on scene.

Gainesville is about 95 kilometres northeast of Atlanta.

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