SYDNEY, April 12 Reuters The Australian dollar opened the week slightly lower on Monday, as investor mood soured following setbacks in the countrys vaccination programme, while the New Zealand dollar was little changed.

The Aussie dollar was down 0.15 at 0.7606, extending Fridays losses, which were triggered by worries about a slowdown in the countrys coronavirus vaccine rollout.

The currency had consolidated around 0.7650 in recent weeks following a brief runup to 0.80 earlier this year.

Australia has abandoned a goal to vaccinate nearly all of its 26 million population by the end of 2021 following advice that people under the age of 50 take Pfizers COVID19 vaccine rather than AstraZenecas shot.

On top of the disappointing vaccine news, investors are also cautious in the wake of the expiration of the countrys wage subsidy program.

The Aussie risks trading heavily this week in our view, said Commonwealth Bank strategists in a note. The combination of our outlook for a strong USD and delay in the vaccine rollout in Australia are headwinds.

However, CBA expected the antipodean currency weakness to be shortlived.

The New Zealand dollar was little changed, having hovered around the 0.7031 level since April 2. The Kiwis major barrier is 0.7053, and support lies around 0.70.

New Zealand government bonds were little changed, with yields trading 23 basis points higher at the longer end of the curve.

Yields on Australian 10year bonds were higher at 1.71, but far from a…