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Rugby League World Cup organisers are furious, claiming they were given "very short notice" that Australia and New Zealand were withdrawing from the 2021 event.

It's understood the RLWC officials were told of the decision just four minutes before the Australian Rugby League Commission and NZRL released their joint statement on Thursday afternoon.

The ARLC and NZRL cited player welfare and safety concerns as reasons for the withdrawal and urged the UK tournament to be postponed until 2022 to avoid the risk of a player catching COVID-19.

The extraordinary call has now left organisers scrambling to reconfigure the tournament without the defending champions Australia, as well as heavyweights New Zealand.

"RLWC2021 note the disappointing statement made by the ARLC and NZRL which may have wide-ranging implications for international rugby league," a statement read.

"RLWC2021 were informed at very short notice and will continue discussions with all stakeholders to agree on the best way forward."

The withdrawal comes just a week after tournament officials confirmed the event would go ahead with or without the defending champions.

However, organisers were confident they could assure the ARLC to sign the participation agreement by enforcing strict bubble conditions for participating athletes.

But the ARLC and NZRL said that the current environment in the UK was just too risky for athletes and officials.

Extended time away from home including quarantine periods after the November 27 final was also cited as a reason for withdrawal.

Despite the arduous bubble conditions and quarantine requirements, most players expressed a desire to play.

"I understand they've got to go through the right things to protect the players and what's going on, but if there's a chance to go to the World Cup and I was picked to play, I'll be wanting to go," Australian hooker Damien Cook said this week.

"It would be a long time away from home but I'm not passing on the opportunity to possibly be a part of the World Cup, that's for sure."

ARLC chairman Peter V'landys said the call was made to protect the wellbeing and safety of players and officials.

"In the current environment, the risks to the safety, health and wellbeing of the players and officials travelling from Australia to participate in the tournament this year are insurmountable," he said.

"The majority of NRL players are currently living away from home under difficult biosecurity protocols.

"They would then be required to remain under protocols and away from home for the duration of the tournament before again quarantining on return to Australia. This is too much to ask our players and officials to do."

Earlier this week the UK lifted the majority of COVID-19 restrictions while case numbers continue to climb both there and in Australia.

"Tournament organisers have moved heaven and earth to make this work, so it is not an easy decision, but the COVID-19 situation in the UK shows no sign of improving, and it's simply too unsafe to send teams and staff over," said NZRL chief executive Greg Peters.

"We understand how disappointing this is for fans and those involved, however, player and staff safety remains paramount."

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Scott Morrison has apologised for the vaccine rollout not meeting its targets but insists some of the issues were out of his control.

The prime minister had repeatedly refused to say sorry for the bungled immunisation program, which is lagging behind most of the developed world.

"I'm sorry that we haven't been able to achieve the marks that we had hoped for at the beginning of this year - of course I am," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"But what's more important is that we're totally focused on ensuring that we've been turning this around."

A record 184,000 doses were administered in the past 24 hours, but just 15 per cent of the population aged over 16 is fully vaccinated.

The rollout started almost five months ago but the government has been forced to dump multiple targets set for itself.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers accused the prime minister of shifting the blame and sending mixed messages.

"This vaccine rollout has been a debacle from the beginning because of Scott Morrison's failures to send a clear message, but most of all to secure enough vaccines," he said.

Australia has ample supplies of AstraZeneca, which is produced in Melbourne, but there is not yet enough imported Pfizer arriving to use in people under 40.

More pharmacies will be brought into the rollout sooner in a bid to ramp up immunisation rates in coming weeks.

Chemists' involvement will more than triple to 470 by the end of the month before thousands join in mid-August.

Almost 40,000 people under 40 have received the AstraZeneca jab since the prime minister encouraged people to talk with a doctor about taking it.

Mr Morrison continues to challenge the nation's expert immunisation panel to reconsider advice which recommends AstraZeneca only for over-60s.

There have been five deaths in Australia of an extremely rare blood clotting condition connected to the AstraZeneca vaccine from more than 6.1 million doses.

A 48-year-old Victorian woman and a man from Tasmania, 44, were confirmed as the two latest thrombocytopenia syndrome deaths on Thursday.

Mr Morrison said the cases were terribly tragic but stressed more people's lives were at risk if vaccination rates did not rise.

There were 124 new local cases of coronavirus recorded in NSW on Thursday, the highest since the outbreak began.

Health authorities are bracing for numbers to go even higher with at least 70 people in Thursday's numbers spending some time in the community while infectious.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said none of the state's 28 coronavirus patients in intensive care had received both doses of a vaccine.

Victoria also recorded its highest daily total of the current outbreak with 26 new local cases, but only two were in the community while infectious.

The state's COVID commander Jeroen Weimar said infected people who were fully vaccinated were only feeling very limited impacts of the virus.

Queensland will shut its border to all of NSW from 1am on Friday, joining Victoria in putting statewide travel restrictions in place.

WA will close its border with South Australia where a cluster in Adelaide has grown to 14 cases.

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Scott Morrison has again challenged a panel of medical experts to rethink their advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The prime minister is urging the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to recommend the jab to people under 60.

Pfizer remains the preferred coronavirus vaccine for that age group.

ATAGI is advising the risks of extremely rare blood clots outweigh the benefits of AstraZeneca for under 60s.

But Mr Morrison believes coronavirus outbreaks across NSW, Victoria and South Australia have changed the equation.

"When COVID cases are rising, that means people have a greater likelihood of catching COVID, particularly older people, then the balance of risk changes," he told 4BC radio on Thursday.

"I have just simply said 'the balance of risk is changing guys, so how is that impacting on your advice' and it's time to think about that."

Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally said the prime minister was freelancing on AstraZeneca.

"He is seeking to shelve responsibility for his failures to have enough vaccine deals on to someone else," she told ABC radio.

"It is unfair pressure for him to be putting on ATAGI."

There were 124 new local cases of coronavirus recorded in NSW on Thursday, the highest since the outbreak began.

Health authorities are bracing for numbers to go even higher with at least 70 people in Thursday's numbers spending some time in the community while infectious.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said none of the state's 28 coronavirus patients in intensive care had received both doses of a vaccine.

"That is extremely encouraging. It means the vaccine is working in preventing serious illness," she told reporters in Sydney.

Just 14.5 per cent of Australians aged over 16 have been fully vaccinated almost five months after the rollout began.

Australia has ample supplies of AstraZeneca, which is produced in Melbourne, but there is not yet enough Pfizer imports arriving to vaccinate people under 40.

Ms Berejiklian urged people under 40 keen to be vaccinated to talk with a doctor about receiving AstraZeneca, echoing the prime minister's comments.

Victoria also recorded its highest daily total of the current outbreak with 26 new local cases but only two were in the community while infectious.

Interstate travel is becoming increasingly difficult with states and territories isolating in a bid to stop the contagious Delta variant spreading.

Queensland will shut its border to all of NSW from 1am Friday, joining Victoria in putting statewide travel restrictions in place.

WA will close its border with South Australia where a cluster in Adelaide has grown to 14 cases.

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Brisbane is celebrating after being awarded the 2032 Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee in a landslide vote in Tokyo on Wednesday.

With three of the 80 members of the IOC abstaining, 72 voted for Brisbane and just five against in a sweeping show of support.

IOC president Thomas Bach said the bid ticked all of the boxes, while underlined by Australia's "passionate love for sport".

"I think it's first of all a passionate love for sport, which the Aussies really demonstrate," Bach said.

"You could feel this during the whole presentation and I could feel it already during my visit a couple of years ago in Queensland.

"It is a project which is absolutely in line with the IOC reforms, it's a project of sustainable gains in every respect and you could hear and see that today that this was a matter of concern, also for the IOC members.

"I was really very much impressed today by the presentation, which addressed all these key issues in a very substantive way."

The city's bid had earlier earned praise from the IOC for its high percentage of existing venues encompassing south-east Queensland, support from all levels of government and experience in organising major events.

Despite the IOC claiming it wasn't a "done deal", the Tokyo organising committee released an embargoed statement before the vote congratulating Brisbane.

Brisbane was preferred ahead of Budapest, Korea, Doha and Germany's Ruhr Valley, who had all expressed an interest in hosting the Games.

Bach said the IOC had previously discussed Brisbane's bid but there was no agreement.

"You cannot blame the IOC members for a press release from the organising committee, I don't know what they had in mind ... but it had nothing to do with our procedures," Bach said.

The Brisbane 2032 delegation, including AOC President John Coates and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, made a formal final presentation to the IOC meeting.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressed the meeting via a live link from Parliament House and spoke of the Australian government's financial commitment to the Games.

He also described Australia's sports-mad multicultural population, with 300 ethnicities, as a "giant Olympic village".

Morrison said securing the Games was a coup for the nation.

"It's a historic day not just for Brisbane and Queensland, but for the entire country," Morrison said.

"It also marks an important leap forward for Australia as we look toward major events that lock in economic growth and social benefits that will echo for years to come."

Coates, who is also an IOC vice-president, dubbed Brisbane "the together games" mixing modernity and the Olympics' 136-year-old ideals.

He said the Games in 2032 were in good hands.

"The Olympic Games in Brisbane will be in the most diligent, grateful and enthusiastic hands," Coates said after the vote.

"And I make this commitment to the athletes of the world - we will provide you with an unforgettable experience."

Paralympics Australia President Jock O'Callaghan said Brisbane 2032 would reinforce the Paralympic movement's strength in demonstrating what people with a disability can achieve.

"The Paralympics has grown to become far and away the world's biggest event for promoting inclusion, a global showcase of the true value of sport," O'Callaghan said.

"This means that hosting the Games opens up extensive opportunities."

While fireworks erupted in Brisbane, the reaction was more muted with the city confirmed back in February as the preferred host city and awarded exclusive negotiation rights ahead of its bidding rivals.

The IOC overhauled its bidding rules in 2019 to reduce costs and avoid pitting candidates against each other.

Australia will become only the second country after the United States to host the Summer Olympics in three different cities.

Melbourne held the Games in 1956 and then Sydney in 2000.

Paris will stage the 2024 Games while Los Angeles has been awarded the 2028 edition.

© AAP 2021