Thousands in Australia sign petition asking government to give light to Chinese COVID-19 vaccines

CANBERRA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of individuals have signed a petition asking the Australian government to introduce or import COVID-19 vaccines made by China.

The petition, launched last week on the website of the Parliament of Australia, has garnered nearly 8,000 signatures, as of Saturday morning.

The campaign was initiated due to "the serious COVID-19 epidemic situation in Australia," as well as the shortage of vaccines in the country, the petition read.

Vaccines made by China are safe, effective, and cheaper, and have been supplied to millions of people in many other countries and regions, it noted.

The Australian government has been under criticism for its vaccine rollout.

On Saturday morning, Australia reported more than 1,750 new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19, the third day in a row for a new record number.