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Australia's leaders have tried to add some Christmas cheer following a week dominated by record COVID-19 numbers.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australians had fought hard to be reunited at Christmas and deserved to be able to come together with their families, friends and communities ahead of the new year.

"This pandemic continues to buffet us ... but together, always together and only together, do we keep pushing through," he said in his Christmas message to the nation.

"Christmas is a time of hope and we are an optimistic people. I want no greater gift than the spirit of the Australian people that's been on display, that's inspired and endured and cared and shown great courage."

Mr Morrison thanked Australians who would be working over Christmas and the holidays to keep the country running.

"So many selfless Australians are out there caring for others this Christmas, working and volunteering to keep Australians safe and showing their fellow Australians that they matter, that they are valued and that they are cared for," he said.

"I want to say thank you to all of those selfless Australians. May God especially bless you and your families this Christmas, especially if you're apart."

He also extended his thoughts to the families of the children killed in a jumping castle incident at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport, Tasmania.

"This Christmas we'll shed a tear and raise up prayers for them right across the country," the prime minister said.

"Everything they cherished in life was taken from them in a terrible instant. It's unimaginable, and so our hearts break for them."

In his Christmas message to the country, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said Australians deserved to have a happy Christmas after a tough two years.

"Now, with our borders opening up again, we're getting back together," he said.

"Off the Zoom and actually back in the room with family, friends and loved ones."

Mr Albanese also thanked Australians for standing together during the pandemic.

"Thanks to everyone for taking care of each other," he said.

"May the festive season bring you joy and may it be a sign of better times to come."

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The time Australians will need to wait for booster shots will be reduced twice in January.

But Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says the staged approach is because the federal government is behind in the rollout of boosters and didn't have the capacity to scale up quickly.

Health Minister Greg Hunt says from January 4, boosters will be brought forward to four months after the second dose, down from five months currently.

Then from January 31, people can get boosters after three months.

About 7.5 million Australians will be eligible for their booster shot come January 4. This will jump to 16 million at the end of the month once the time frame is dropped to three months.

But Mr Albanese said the government wasn't prepared to carry out the recommended advice despite the changes being heralded by international evidence.

"The only explanation for why (it's staged), if the government and medical experts (say) three months is better than four months, is because of capacity constraints," he said.

"We have known that booster shots would be required for a long period of time."

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said it wasn't feasible to suddenly give 16 million Australians a booster dose over the holiday period.

"When we got to our peak of vaccination, around 2.2 million doses a week, was leading the world on a per capita basis," he said.

"That's what we aim to get to and exceed during January."

Mr Hunt said Australia was 500,000 booster shots ahead of schedule, with the country surpassing two million third jabs given on Friday

States and territories will be able to move ahead of schedule and offer boosters under the shortened eligibility criteria if they are in a position to do so.

Some vulnerable and immunocompromised people will also be able to receive their fourth dose if the new time frames make them eligible.

Mr Hunt said priority would be given to Australia's most vulnerable people and the ones who have waited the longest between doses.

"We know that it's not an immediate thing when the vaccine starts to wear off," Mr Hunt said.

"It's a time based thing and so we will prioritise the ones that are most at risk."

Mr Hunt said the booster also reduced virus transmission.

"Protection is very strong against severe illness, but what we'll see is a much stronger protection against transmission," he said.

Professor Kelly wouldn't speculate on whether the three-month time frame meant Australians would need to line up for four COVID-19 jabs each year.

But he urged Australians to get the jab, saying a rise in intensive care patients in NSW has been made up almost entirely of unvaccinated people with "not even a first dose let alone a booster".

Compulsory mask-wearing is now in place across almost every state and territory as leaders try to limit the spread over Christmas.

It comes as NSW recorded 5612 infections and one death on Friday, while Victoria reported 2095 cases and eight deaths.

High-risk, large public events in Western Australia will be cancelled and dancing has been banned except at weddings after a backpacker tested positive on Thursday and was infectious in the community for a number of days.

Five additional cases were recorded in WA on Friday, one close contact to the original case and four casual contacts who were exposed.

A hostel in Perth's south has been locked down to stop the spread.

Queensland reported 589 new daily infections on Friday, while South Australia had 688, Tasmania 27, the ACT 102 and the Northern Territory 10.

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Sydneysiders have been told to open the windows and pop their grandparents on the porch on Christmas Day as COVID-19 continues to sweep through the city.

The number of new infections in NSW topped 5000 for the second consecutive day, swamping contact tracers, overwhelming testing sites and affecting flight schedules as authorities reintroduce mask rules.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said a notification about a case from a QR code check-in was not necessarily a reason for a PCR test.

"What we are stressing is that is a prompt, a reminder to monitor for symptoms so please get tested if you're unwell but don't get tested unless you are feeling unwell," Dr Chant said on Friday.

She encouraged people to prioritise ventilation and ask elderly visitors to sit outside on the verandah at Christmas gatherings.

Meanwhile, restrictions on visitors to aged care home have been updated, with residents now allowed only two fully vaccinated visitors aged over 12 plus two children per day.

Alternatively they can leave the facility to attend family gatherings, but must return negative rapid antigen tests on days two, four and seven when they return.

Some 5612 people were diagnosed as positive in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday from more than 164,000 tests.

The majority of new cases were in Sydney. The local health district with the most infections was South Eastern Sydney where 1218 new cases were recorded, followed by Sydney (862) and Western Sydney (780).

One death was reported - a fully vaccinated woman in her 90s who acquired COVID-19 in a Lakemba aged care facility.

While the number of cases dropped by 103 from the record of the day before, the number of tests increased by more than 3600.

Multiple Jetstar and Qantas domestic flights out of Sydney have been cancelled on Christmas Eve as frontline staff deemed close contacts are having to test and isolate as the virus spreads through the city.

A Jetstar spokesman said the airlines were working to accommodate passengers on other flights.

"We appreciate the frustration this causes, especially as customers are travelling for Christmas, and sincerely apologise for the impact these changes are having on travel plans," the spokesman told AAP.

The spike in case numbers has led the government to reintroduce some restrictions that were only wound back less than two weeks ago.

Almost 30,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus in NSW in the nine days since.

Masks are again required in indoor settings from Friday, with hospitality venues to return to the one person per two-square metre rule and QR codes to be compulsory again from Monday.

The restrictions will last at least a month.

The announcement on Thursday came after the government spent two weeks avoiding mask and QR code mandates by insisting people needed to take "personal responsibility" for their actions.

Deputy Premier Paul Toole on Friday defended the approach.

"They were wearing masks already but what we have done is made sure that ... anybody that is in an indoor setting is going to be wearing a mask," he told Nine's Today Show.

The outbreak, spurred on by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, has forced NSW to scale back contact tracing efforts.

Just over one-in-two - 54 per cent - of people who test positive were fully interviewed by health bureaucrats within a day last week.

The week prior, that figure stood at 94 per cent.

The number of people in hospital has climbed to 382, up 35, with 53 in intensive care, an increase of eight.

The majority are among the 6.5 per cent of the population that remains unvaccinated, NSW Health says.

Across NSW, 94.9 per cent of people aged 16 and over have received a first vaccine dose, and 93.5 per cent both.

© AAP 2021