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Victoria will enter a seven-day lockdown in an effort to contain a growing outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Melbourne's western suburbs.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the lockdown will begin at 8pm on Thursday, after the state recorded eight new COVID-19 cases.

The same rules that applied during last month's lockdown will be reimposed, including the five-kilometre travel limit for exercise and shopping and compulsory masks indoors and outdoors.

"The advice to me from the experts if we were to wait even just a few days, is there is every chance that instead of being locked down for a week, this gets away from us and we are potentially locked down until we all get vaccinated," Mr Andrews said.

Victorians have been given less than four hours notice of the lockdown, unlike previous ones that started at midnight, because a previous outbreak was linked to a dinner on lockdown-eve, Mr Andrews said.

He said the national strategy for dealing with the Delta variant was to go hard and fast with lockdowns.

"You almost can't act fast enough," Mr Andrews said.

The sixth lockdown was prompted in part by fears a teacher at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina infected with COVID-19 may have unknowingly spread the virus while infectious.

She also passed the virus on to her partner and his parents.

It is unknown how the couple, who live in the Hobsons Bay area and are both in their 20s, caught the virus.

The Al-Taqwa College has now become a testing site and is offering vaccinations to staff and students.

Authorities are also racing to trace the source of their infection and that of a man in his 20s who lives in the Maribyrnong council.

He works at a warehouse in Derrimut and he and his housemate are now isolating.

The three other cases from Thursday's numbers are linked to the Moonee Valley testing site cluster.

It is the sixth lockdown for Victoria since the start of the pandemic and the fourth in 2021.

The state's fifth lockdown ended just nine days ago.

Mr Andrews said even though all the cases announced on Thursday are in Melbourne, sewage tests had detected virus fragments in the Wangaratta region.

Details of business support will be revealed on Friday.

Businesses that have already applied for support during the last lockdown are expected to receive payments again this time around, without having to file new paperwork.

Victoria has also requested extra Pfizer vaccines, following more doses being sent to NSW, which is in an extended lockdown battling its worst outbreak since the pandemic began.

For exposure sites visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites

© AAP 2021

Corey Norman has a five-week run to keep his NRL career alive as the off-contract half battles to keep St George Illawarra in finals contention.

A fractured arm to halves partner Ben Hunt in round 20 means Norman must shoulder the weight of leadership and playmaking when the Dragons face fellow eight contenders Canberra on Friday.

The 30-year-old was told he's not part of the Dragons' plans for 2022 with the NRL veteran recently admitting there were no offers on the table.

He is also yet to win a single finals game in a career spanning 223 appearances in the NRL.

With his future hinging on forthcoming performances, coach Anthony Griffin says it's important for Norman to focus on the now, not next season.

"I don't think it'd be his last shot but it's obviously a good opportunity for him not so much for next year, but staying in the moment now," Griffin said on Thursday.

"If he can get the job done on Friday night for us and play a leading role that's obviously going to help our team at the moment, which in turn is going to obviously create some more awareness about him.

"Corey's been around a long time. He's played a lot of big matches. He's played finals and Origins and he's been at this club for a few years.

"He's really keen to do a job for the club tomorrow night and if he does that, that will take care of all the other things."

Results in the next two rounds will shape the battle for the eight as five teams including the Dragons and Raiders sit level on 18 competition points.

But Griffin has faith in his combination of Norman and Adam Clune who brought his side success when Hunt went down earlier this year.

"These are the type of games that are going to obviously shape the season from now on, playing someone that's on the same points as us," he said.

"I'm sure they'll do a good job, earlier in the year when Ben (Hunt) went down they had a good combination.

"When we were in a bit of form before Ben came back we beat Parramatta and Newcastle with Cluney and Norman there and they've both got a lot of experience, particularly Corey. So we've got a lot of faith in them."

© AAP 2021

NSW and Queensland will receive an injection of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses as both states battle outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta strain.

There are growing fears the majority of Australians could soon be again locked down after eight new cases in Victoria sparked alarm.

Sydney's dire situation continues to worsen with another 262 local cases reported on Thursday.

Five people over 60 died, taking the national toll to 932. Four of them had not received any vaccine while one had a single AstraZeneca dose in late May.

NSW will receive 183,690 accelerated Pfizer doses in the next two weeks with the vast majority being sent to the epicentre of Sydney's outbreak in the southwestern suburbs.

Queensland will be sent an extra 112,000 doses over the next two weeks, bringing forward its allocation.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said pumping more vaccines into those jurisdictions would come at other states' expense.

"That would be dangerous, because the whole program needs to go forward," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Mr Morrison insists lockdowns will be the main tool to conquer coronavirus outbreaks until vaccination rates meet nationally agreed targets of 70 and 80 per cent.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pushed vaccination rates as a factor in whether restrictions will be lifted at the end of this month.

The prime minister is now praising state governments that lock down fast and hard despite senior members of his government lashing Victoria last year.

"The primary tool to end the lockdown in Sydney is the success of the lockdown in Sydney," Mr Morrison said.

Australia has vaccinated almost 21 per cent of its population aged 16 and over but continues to lag behind most of the world.

A record 221,859 doses were administered in the past 24 hours taking the total past 13 million.

Mr Morrison labelled Labor's plan for all fully vaccinated people to receive one-off $300 payments a bad idea but flagged greater freedoms as incentives.

He will discuss potential options with state and territory leaders at a national cabinet meeting on Friday.

"The best incentive is this - you're less likely to get the virus," the prime minister said.

"You're less likely to transmit the virus. You're less likely to get seriously ill. You're less likely to die."

The NSW government has issued a desperate plea for residents to receive any coronavirus jab available and is considering its own incentive scheme.

"They involve getting vaccinated to be able to do the things all of us want to be able to do," Ms Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

A NSW traveller tested positive to coronavirus while quarantining in Tasmania but has since returned to the mainland.

© AAP 2021