Received

Scott Morrison says securing $85 million worth of Pfizer vaccines as booster jabs is another 'shot in the arm' for Australians in the vaccination program.

Delivery will begin in the first quarter of 2022 and enable booster coverage throughout the year and into 2023.

"We can go into the next year with greater confidence, the supplies will be provided for the course of the year to meet any of those booster requirements," the prime minister told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.

Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten said the announcement was better late than never.

"We've got another promise. I don't think Australia should waste time for the promise. I'm worried about the people in Sydney right now," he told ABC's Insiders program.

For now half the population remains in lockdown with restrictions in NSW, Victoria and South Australia - the latter two due to end on Tuesday.

But the Greater Sydney area remains in crisis with 141 new cases reported on Sunday and two deaths - one woman in her 30s and another in her 70s.

Mr Morrison said a record for a Saturday of more than 100,000 doses were delivered, bringing the total to 11.14 million jabs across the nation.

He said 38 per cent of the population has had at least one dose, over 16 per cent have had two.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program the virus is not going away.

"There is one ticket out of this crisis and that's vaccinations," he said.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller agreed.

"The way the Delta variant is running through, particularly in Sydney at the moment, is that I can't see us getting down to zero for some time," he told Sky News.

Given the size of NSW daily numbers, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) now says any adult in the Greater Sydney area is strongly recommended to receive the vaccine, regardless of which one they are eligible for - Pfizer or AstraZeneca.

"That's important because we know that we have got AstraZeneca available but we haven't seen a huge take-up," Mr Frydneberg said.

ATAGI had previously recommended those under 60 should only get the Pfizer jab because of the extremely rare risk of blood clotting from having the AstraZeneca vaccine in younger people.

Mr Morrison said the vaccines would provide assistance but were not a lockdown game-changer.

"What is going to end the lockdown is it being effective ... and complied with," he said.

He said Saturday's ugly protest in Sydney was selfish.

"It was also self-defeating. It achieves no purpose. It won't end the lockdown sooner. It will only risk the lockdowns running further," he said.

Mr Frydenberg was more blunt.

"Stupidity writ large. Just shocking, really shocking images," he said.

"Those protesters should be condemned for not just breaking the health orders and there for breaking the law, but for putting in danger their fellow Australians."

Meanwhile, Victoria announced 11 new locally acquired virus cases.

Premier Daniel Andrews said while the lockdown strategy is working, it is still too early to say whether it will end on Tuesday night.

South Australia Premier Steven Marshall reported three new cases but confirmed his lockdown would end on Tuesday as planned.

© AAP 2021

Australia has recorded its youngest female COVID-19 death to date - a Sydney woman in her late 30s without pre-existing conditions.

The death of the central Sydney resident has prompted a plea from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian for young people to adhere to lockdown measures and seek out the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The premier also says her government will this week start "critical planning" on policy settings after the lockdown's scheduled end.

NSW recorded 141 new local virus cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday and two deaths - the other of a woman in her 70s from Sydney's southwest.

At least 62 of those diagnosed were circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.

Greater Sydney and surrounds are locked down until at least July 30, three regional NSW areas until at least July 28.

Eight people have died in the current Sydney outbreak.

"If anybody thinks this is a disease just affecting older people, please think again ... younger people without pre-existing conditions can also fall victim to this cruel disease," Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Sunday.

The 141 cases came from a record of more than 102,000 tests. There are 43 people in intensive care, with 18 ventilated.

With Sydney's lockdown preventing exponential growth in infections but failing to drive local case numbers down, Ms Berejiklian reinforced immunisation advice.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation on Saturday said everyone 18 and over in Greater Sydney "should strongly consider getting vaccinated with any available vaccine including COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca".

While Pfizer supplies remain constrained, the NSW government says it has plentiful AstraZeneca, which is manufactured locally and effectively prevents hospitalisation or death.

Of those in intensive care in NSW, none were fully vaccinated.

Ms Berejiklian and her government this week pointed to vaccination as a way out of the outbreak - which is at odds with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's emphasis on lockdown.

In NSW, 15.4 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

"(Vaccination) won't stop the spread alone but it will definitely, definitely slow the spread down," Ms Berejiklian said.

Mr Morrison says NSW vaccine uptake would not be fast enough and lockdown needs to remain the primary tool.

"The vaccines can provide some assistance ... (but) what's going to end this lockdown is it being effective," he told reporters.

Ms Berejiklian also said her government would this week try to pin down policy settings for the coming months.

She said she wanted to "get the right balance" including providing freedoms where virus transmission risk is minimal.

It comes as the NSW treasurer calls for the reintroduction of the JobKeeper wage subsidy amid Greater Sydney's outbreak and Labor demands a summit to discuss the health crisis.

But the federal government has poured cold water on the idea.

Disquiet over the lockdown erupted dramatically on Saturday afternoon, as thousands marched through Sydney's CBD.

Scores have been arrested over the protest action, which Ms Berejiklian says left her disgusted and heart-broken. Two men have also been charged with striking a police horse.

The latest lockdown has prevented all but essential workers leaving Cumberland, Blacktown, Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown local government areas.

Local elections in NSW have been postponed to December 4.

© AAP 2021

The NSW treasurer has called for the reintroduction of the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme amid Greater Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak as Labor demands a summit to discuss the health crisis.

But the federal government has poured cold water on Dominic Perrottet's suggestion, arguing its current support payment structure is simpler and more flexible.

Tensions are high in NSW as case numbers continue to rise and police hunt down thousands of people who ignored public health orders on Saturday to protest lockdowns.

Despite a lockdown of Greater Sydney entering its fifth week, case numbers of the deadly Delta strain of the virus hit a new high on Saturday as NSW reported 163 new local infections.

Visitors to the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse cancer hospital in Sydney's inner west have potentially been exposed to the virus.

NSW Health indicated that visitors to the centre around lunchtime on Tuesday were considered to be close contacts, after a patient who attended for an appointment tested positive.

Disquiet over the lockdown erupted dramatically on Saturday afternoon, as thousands marched through Sydney's CBD.

At least 57 people have been arrested over the protest action, which Premier Gladys Berejiklian said left her "utterly disgusted".

Two men have also been charged with allegedly striking a police horse.

A team of more than 20 detectives is working to identify more of the protesters and either charge or fine them.

The NSW government is frustrated with rising case numbers, which have persisted despite the imposition of more severe restrictions.

Mr Perrottet on Sunday called for the reintroduction of JobKeeper, telling Nine newspapers that workers were in danger of "slipping through the cracks" amid an extended lockdown.

He said JobKeeper was crucial in 2020 for maintaining the relationship between employers and stood-down employees.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has also called for the reinstatement of JobKeeper.

The NSW government had earlier lobbied the federal government to reinstate JobKeeper, but without success.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Sunday again knocked back Mr Perrottet's suggestion, saying current support was adequate.

"It's a lot more flexible, it's available to casuals and it's money that is going out the door as quickly as 40 minutes," Mr Frydenberg told Sky News.

COVID-19 disaster payments in NSW range from $375 to $600 and the government says more than 600,000 payments have been administered.

The NSW Labor opposition, meanwhile, said the government should host an online summit bringing together stakeholders including community leaders, unions and business peak bodies.

"The summit could act like a community cabinet, alongside the NSW cabinet, to provide important community buy-in, feedback and acceptance," Labor said in a statement on Sunday.

The latest lockdown escalation has prevented all but the most essential workers in Cumberland and Blacktown local government areas leaving those areas, joining Fairfield residents.

Ms Berejiklian has described vaccination as the way out of the outbreak, but her plea for more Pfizer stocks has been rebuffed.

Instead, NSW will have to settle for 50,000 more Pfizer doses from the federal government's national stockpile.

Ms Berejiklian has said she will soon provide the state with a "road map" until the state reaches a good proportion of its citizens vaccinated.

Three regional NSW local government areas in the state's central west are also under stay-at-home orders until at least July 28.

Local elections across NSW have also been postponed by three months to December 4.

NSW Health on Saturday night issued an alert about a confirmed COVID case on Virgin flight VA1139 from Sydney to Ballina on July 14, with anyone aboard deemed a close contact.

© AAP 2021