PM

New South Wales hospitals prepare for a mid-October surge of COVID admissions, with more than 500 needing intensive care. We'll look at the preparation underway in the state's hospital system.

While young people are less likely to die of COVID, long term symptoms are debilitating for some, you'll meet a 24-year-old struggling to recover.

And the Komodo dragon, the giant of modern lizards, is now considered endangered. We'll look at how it came to this.

Australia is borrowing Pfizer jabs, while it waits for purchases to arrive. But when might mRNA vaccines be made onshore? And Indigenous communities are being targeted with anti-vaccination propaganda. We look at what went wrong with the rollout in Indigenous communities.

Shoppers at an Auckland supermarket have been stabbed in what New Zealand’s Prime Minister is describing as a terror attack.

Can Schools be made COVID safer? Victoria plans ventilation audits of classrooms, paediatrician - Doctor Greg Kelly joins us.

And brace for more online shopping delivery delays, we'll explain what's behind it, and the services worst affected.

A letter on the way to unvaccinated Australians in their 60s - the Prime Minister's message – it's time to get AstraZeneca. Another seven COVID deaths in New South Wales, the Premier's urging people to put things into perspective, but once restrictions lift, how many deaths are okay? And the future of the International Space Station at risk and it's not just cracks to worry about.

Despite locking down hard and early, Victoria's struggling to get on top of COVID case numbers and Premier Daniel Andrews says COVID-zero is no longer a possibility, the focus - like in New South Wales - is on vaccination, rather than elimination. Residents in some parts of western Sydney see new COVID case numbers drop to low levels and complain they should now be freed of harsher restrictions. And can a computer program produce a fair divorce settlement? We'll look at attempts to unblock the courts.

A pregnant woman in regional New South Wales fights for her life in intensive care after trying and failing to get a Pfizer vaccine. We’re joined by a former Afghan government minister who's now a refugee in America, she's warning of a looming catastrophe as the country is drained of its most skilled, fleeing Taliban rule. And profitable retailer Harvey Norman quietly pays back six million dollars of the JobKeeper wage subsidy, but chairman Gerry Harvey won't explain why.

As Australia records a total of more than one thousand COVID deaths, a New South Wales paramedic pleads for people to get vaccinated. Alarm grows that intensive care units, especially in Sydney, face unsustainable strain because of the New South Wales COVID outbreak, global health expert Professor Nancy Baxter tells us the stress isn’t going away. Why are some people more prone to believe COVID lies? Research suggests people are trusting their gut instinct, we'll meet someone trying to correct the worst misinformation on social media.

As NSW charts a path to schools opening, experts say measuring and filtering classroom air is essential, alongside masks and vaccines, as we "learn to live with COVID". And from a mythically resistant valley, Afghanistan’s Taliban resistance assembles, who are they and what is the plan?

Carnage in Kabul, President Biden vows revenge after a bombing kills dozens, including US troops at the airport. Is it safe to get New South Wales children back in the classroom? Vaccine bookings are on the way for 12 to 15 year olds, we'll look at the case for vaxxing young teens.

More than a thousand new COVID cases in New South Wales and more people die at home, prompting a plea for the sick to seek early treatment. At the same time, fully vaccinated people get a reward - picnics with friends - but those in the areas of concern miss out, we'll have reaction. And Qantas is planning for international travel by Christmas, but how realistic is that?