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The wait time to receive a COVID-19 booster will be cut from six months to five, the federal government is expected to announce.

As the Omicron variant continues to spread, Health Minister Greg Hunt says data from Israel shows booster jabs lead to reductions in infection rates as well as the rate of severe disease and deaths.

"A booster dose, five or more months after the second dose, will make sure that the protection from the primary course is even stronger and longer lasting and should help prevent spread of the virus," he told Nine newspapers.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton commended the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation for changing its advice on the booster gap.

"Thanks ATAGI. There is an urgent need for third doses/boosters. Don't delay if you're due. I'll now get mine before Christmas," he tweeted on Saturday night.

Victoria recorded 13 virus deaths on Saturday - although seven occurred in November - and 1193 new cases. None of the infections were identified as Omicron.

Cases continue to rise in NSW which reported 560 new infections on Saturday, the highest in two months, and another three people died. Three of the new cases were of the Omicron variant, taking the total in the state to 45.

Eleven more people tested positive for COVID-19 in the ACT, while South Australia reported six local cases and Queensland and the Northern Territory recorded one each.

Two cases announced in South Australia on Friday were confirmed to be the Omicron COVID-19 variant, SA Health said on Saturday night.

Western Australia - the only state to have fully vaccinated 80 per cent of its eligible population - will tighten its borders from Monday, ending 47 days of quarantine-free travel with Queensland.

WA Premier Mark McGowan saying vaccinated travellers from Queensland must now quarantine for 14 days on arrival, following a virus outbreak on the Gold Coast.

Meanwhile, Queensland is preparing to reopen its borders to virus hotspots in NSW, Victoria and the ACT from Monday.

This domestic opening comes as the federal government prepares to welcome back international students and other visa holders, after delaying the move by two weeks.

It's also extended biosecurity measures controlling who can enter and leave the country until February 17.

Mandatory COVID-19 testing for people wanting to fly into Australia will continue, along with mask mandates on international flights.

The rules also cover restrictions on international arrivals from high-risk countries, unvaccinated Australians wanting to go overseas, and controls on cruise ships.

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Australians aged 18 and over can now get the Moderna vaccine as a booster shot against the coronavirus as an alternative to a Pfizer dose, Health Minister Greg Hunt says.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has given approval to the Moderna vaccine as a booster shot, and like Pfizer, it can be used irrespective of what vaccine a person received for their primary course of vaccination.

ATAGI has also confirmed in updated advice that booster doses can be provided from five months after completion of the primary course, given the likelihood of ongoing transmission of the Omicron and Delta variants.

This was previously recommended to be six months from a second dose.

"A booster dose, five or more months after the second dose, will make sure that the protection from the primary course is even stronger and longer lasting and should help prevent spread of the virus," Mr Hunt said in a statement on Sunday.

He said more than 670,000 Australians had already received more than two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Moderna booster dosage is half that of the primary course dosage.

Mr Hunt and Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy will receive their COVID-19 booster shots on Sunday.

The announcement came as NSW recorded 485 new COVID-19 cases and two virus-related deaths.

Genomic testing into additional Omicron cases continues, with the state tally up to 45 as of Saturday.

There were 1069 new infections reported in Victoria and two deaths.

As of Saturday, Victorian authorities were responding to three existing Omicron infections.

Mr Hunt said more than 40 million COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Australia, with more than 93 per cent of eligible Australians aged 16 and older having received a first dose and more than 89 per cent having received a second dose.

Government frontbencher Peter Dutton said it was important people understood Australia was living with the virus now and the reason behind getting to a fully vaccinated rate of 80 or 90 per cent.

He said people did not want to go back into lockdowns.

"I think that is the general sentiment frankly across the country," he told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program.

"We need to recognise the mental health issues that have been generated in our community, the domestic violence issues from people being stuck at home for extended periods."

© AAP 2021

Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein is adamant cricket fans will prove Shane Warne wrong and flock to the fifth men's Ashes Test, which shapes as a bittersweet moment for Tim Paine.

Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed the series finale, beginning on January 14 and originally set to take place in Perth, will be a day-night Test in Hobart.

Bellerive hasn't hosted a Test since 2016, while it has never featured in any Ashes series.

Gutwein's government tipped in $4 million to seal the deal, although CA could obviously have banked a bigger cheque by opting for a second Test at the MCG or SCG after border-exemption talks with Western Australia broke down.

Warne criticised CA for making the "very strange" decision to brush his home state of Victoria, arguing "one of the reasons Hobart lost their Test was that nobody was turning up".

Gutwein quipped Warne has "been bowled by a Tassie flipper".

"We're going to put on a fantastic spectacle," he said.

"I am absolutely confident Tasmanians will turn up in droves, but also that we're going to see significant interstate visitors and international visitors.

"This top-level international event will be the biggest sporting event our state has ever hosted ... it demonstrates a small state can punch well above its weight."

The record crowd for a day of Test cricket in Hobart is 12,254, while the coronavirus-safe capacity for each day of the Ashes Test will be 14,000.

"We can disregard all crowd numbers from the past," Cricket Tasmania chief executive Dominic Baker said.

"There's been a lot of talk 'Tasmanians don't turn up', well I think this is the one time they will.

"An Ashes is something absolutely special.

"The day-night format really plays into our hands."

CA counterpart Nick Hockley noted the postponement of last month's Australia-Afghanistan Test in Hobart was one of several factors that prompted his organisation to pick Hobart.

The governing body was desperate to find a solution that pleased broadcasters, players and its state-association shareholders.

Hockley thanked England's cricket board and players for embracing a second pink-ball Test, and backed Hobart to produce a pitch befitting the occasion.

Paine was, before tearfully resigning as Australia's captain because of a sexting scandal, publicly pushing for Hobart to be part of this Test summer.

The proud Tasmanian, who is on a mental-health break after sidelining himself from the Ashes, has never played a Test in his home state and is unlikely to ever play for Australia again.

"I'm sure there will be a little bit of bittersweet-ness there," Baker said.

"But we know he's a fine character and he'd be very, very happy today that this Test match is going ahead.

"He's been a huge supporter of our organisation. Club cricket and Cricket Tasmania are really at his heart."

© AAP 2021