Australians under 40 will not be eligible for Pfizer coronavirus jabs ahead of schedule despite increasing hospitalisations of younger people.

A teenager is included in NSW's 27 intensive care patients in NSW, with the majority under 60 and 24 unvaccinated.

Health Minister Greg Hunt pointed to Pfizer supplies as the main reason the vaccine rollout could not be immediately extended to under 40s.

"What we're doing at the moment is following the advice because there are a finite number of vaccines," he told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

"At this point in time we're working through the 40 to 59 age group."

People under 40 are allowed to speak with a doctor about receiving AstraZeneca.

But Australia's expert immunisation panel ATAGI recommends Pfizer for that age group because of an extremely rare side effect.

Mr Hunt said ATAGI would provide advice on expanding the Pfizer rollout to other age groups but noted more vulnerable populations needed to be prioritised.

Just over one million people aged under 40 have so far received their first vaccine dose for a range of special reasons, official figures show.

One million doses of the vaccine landed earlier in the week with similar shipments expected over coming months.

September or October have been raised as potential markers for Pfizer to be extended to under-40s.

The Australian Medical Association's Andrew Miller warned the nation's previous good fortune with coronavirus ending because of new variants.

"Australia's learning now to dance with Delta," he told Sky News.

"We're seeing what it was that caused the fuss around the world and in India and other places where they were sadly overwhelmed."

Dr Miller said vaccines were achieving fabulous results in reducing hospitalisations but tempered expectations about opening up.

"This talk that we can maybe ease up on restrictions when we get to half the population vaccinated unfortunately that's a bit of a dangerous fantasy," he said.

The Perth-based anaesthetist wants Australia to urgently look at vaccinating children aged 12 and over.

He said Delta killed one in 1000 infected children and left six per cent with severe long-term symptoms.

"The fact that COVID can and does kill and disable young people is well known around the world," Dr Miller said.

"Even though it happens more rarely than in nursing homes, this is not a disease of the elderly."

Pfizer has applied for approval to lower the age limit from 16 to 12.

Mr Hunt said the medicines regulator and ATAGI would need to recommend the change before the government made changes.

"If there are two green lights then we will proceed but it's very much a medical consideration."

© AAP 2021

Victoria's lockdown will be extended for a further seven days as authorities work to "extinguish" an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant.

The lockdown was initially due to end on Tuesday night, but Premier Daniel Andrews announced stay-home-orders would remain in place until at least 11:59pm on July 27.

He said Victoria had avoided a "NSW-style, long, lengthy, very challenging lockdown" but authorities needed more time to "extinguish" the outbreak.

"We're dealing with an outbreak that we think we are running alongside and we just need to get in front of it in order to pull it up," Mr Andrews told reporters.

He says easing restrictions while new case numbers are in the single digits isn't an option, due to the speed and ease with which the Delta variant has spread.

"If we leave it smouldering at low levels ... then there's every chance that we are back here, locked down again," Mr Andrews said.

Victoria recorded 13 local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning, four of which were previously announced by authorities, bringing the total number of infections in the outbreak to 85.

Three people are in hospital but none are in intensive care.

Twelve of the new cases are linked to the current outbreaks of the Delta variant in the state, including seven staff and patrons of Ms Frankie restaurant in Cremorne and two students at Trinity Grammar in Kew.

A case involving a woman in her 20s from Roxburgh Park remains under investigation, though authorities believe it is connected to a family from the City of Hume, who tested positive after returning from NSW earlier this month.

Nine of the cases were in isolation during their infectious period.

Mr Andrews said two people had unwittingly become "superspreader(s)" of the Delta variant after attending several events while infectious, including the Geelong-Carlton AFL match the MCG on July 10.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said about a third of the state's close contacts were from regional Victoria, mostly due to the spread in the MCC Members' Reserve for the Geelong-Carlton game.

"It is something that brings Victorians from far and wide and back home far and wide across Victoria," he said.

Some 18,000 close contacts are self-isolating after coming into contact with positive cases, including residents of apartment blocks in Maribyrnong and Richmond.

There are more than 300 exposure sites, spanning from Phillip Island in the south of the state to Mildura in the northwest.

The government also announced red zone travel permits, needed to get into Victoria from NSW, will be paused for two weeks.

Only authorised workers and those who apply for and receive an exemption will be able to travel between the two states.

There will also be minor changes to exempted workers from Wednesday to include services that operate solely outdoors where physical distancing can be maintained, such as gardening, mobile pet grooming and pamphlet delivery.

Students with a disability will also be able to return to on-site learning from Wednesday if a parent or carer indicates the student cannot learn from home.

A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found at https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites

© AAP 2021

South Australia's cluster of coronavirus cases has grown to three as the state prepares for tough new restrictions in a bid to contain the latest outbreak.

An 81-year-old man and two of his close contacts, a man and a woman in their 50s, have tested positive for the virus.

The woman is known to be the elderly man's daughter.

More than a dozen other close contact are in quarantine along with hundreds or potentially thousands of people who visited a growing list of exposure sites, including a suburban shopping centre.

Premier Steven Marshall says five of those close contacts have tested negative so far but authorities are very concerned about the current situation.

"We only have one chance to get this right. Our focus from day one has been to go hard and to go early to minimise the level of disruption," he said.

"We've got to respond quickly."

New SA restrictions include a density change to one person to every four square metres in all venues, while all team and contact sport is to be cancelled.

All dining will need to be seated with a ban imposed on dancing and singing.

Masks will be required in all indoor public areas, including shopping malls.

Fitness centres will be closed along with other non-essential retail outlets. Supermarkets and pharmacies and other essential businesses will continue to trade.

Family gatherings will be restricted to 10 people but schools will stay open.

The new rules will apply from midnight on Monday and will be reviewed on Friday.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said while SA was not moving to a full lockdown, the restrictions were significant.

"We know there are people who will struggle as a result of these changes. But the consequences of not taking action could be even more severe," he said.

"The intent here is to dramatically suppress all discretionary activity in the community."

Authorities said earlier that the elderly man had returned to Australia through NSW, where he spent 14 days in quarantine.

He spent a further 10 days in hospital in NSW after suffering a fall before returning to SA on July 8, and presented to a suburban hospital over the weekend after developing symptoms.

The man had received one vaccine dose while in Argentina, but it was not known what type.

He has been admitted to hospital with Adelaide's other positive cases transferred to the Tom's Court Hotel which is used to quarantine all those with an active infection.

"We don't draw any conclusions as to where this infection came from. We simply don't know and it is very early days," Mr Marshall said.

"Our primary concern at the moment is putting everyone who may have come into contact with this person into quarantine as soon as possible."

Mr Marshall said the emergency department at Modbury Hospital was closed for a time after the man's presented but was being progressively reopened as it was safe to do so.

Some staff have been placed in hotel quarantine.

The Elizabeth Vale Primary School will also reopen on Tuesday after being closed on Monday as a precaution while checks were made to ensure the elderly man's grandson, who is a teacher, didn't attend over the two-week holiday period.

SA Health named five potential exposure sites on Monday, including an OPSM store at Golden Grove, a food warehouse at Hindmarsh, the Commonwealth Bank at Modbury and an Aldi Supermarket at St Agnes.

There is also some concern for an outdoor reserve at Glenelg.

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said officials were assuming the man had the Delta variant of the disease, though that was yet to be confirmed.

She said the Delta strain could "spread like wildfire".

SA Health expected to have the results of genomic testing on Tuesday.

© AAP 2021

South Australia has imposed widespread coronavirus restrictions, including closing all non-essential retail outlets, following the discovery of a second COVID-19 case.

The daughter of an 81-year-old man has now tested positive along with her father after the pair arrived from Argentina some time ago.

Premier Steven Marshall says five other close contacts of the pair have tested negative so far but authorities are very concerned about the current situation.

"We only have one chance to get this right. Our focus from day one has been to go hard and to go early to minimise the level of disruption," he said.

"We've got to respond quickly."

New SA restrictions include a density change to one person to every four square metres in all venues, while all team and contact sport is to be cancelled.

All dining will need to be seated with a ban imposed on dancing and singing.

Masks will be required in all public outlets, including shopping centres.

Fitness centres will be closed along with other non-essential retail outlets. Supermarkets and pharmacies and other essential businesses will continue to trade.

Schools will stay open.

The new rules will apply from midnight on Monday and will be reviewed on Friday.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said while SA was not moving to a full lockdown, the restrictions were significant.

"We know there are people who will struggle as a result of these changes. But the consequences of not taking action could be even more severe," he said.

"The intent here is to dramatically suppress all discretionary activity in the community."

Authorities said earlier that the elderly man had returned to Australia through NSW, where he spent 14 days in quarantine.

He spent a further 10 days in hospital in NSW after suffering a fall before returning to SA on July 8, and presented to a suburban hospital over the weekend after developing symptoms.

The man had received one vaccine dose while in Argentina, but it was not known what type.

The man has been admitted to hospital, while his daughter has been taken to the Tom's Court Hotel which is used to quarantine all positive COVID-19 cases.

"We don't draw any conclusions as to where this infection came from. We simply don't know and it is very early days," Mr Marshall said.

"Our primary concern at the moment is putting everyone who may have come into contact with this person into quarantine as soon as possible."

Mr Marshall said the emergency department at Modbury Hospital remained closed while a risk assessment is performed, and would be progressively opened when it was safe to do so.

Some staff have been placed in quarantine.

The premier said the Elizabeth Vale Primary School would also reopen on Tuesday after being closed on Monday.

The school was closed as a precaution while checks were made to ensure the elderly man's grandson, who is a teacher, didn't attend over the two-week holiday period.

SA Health named five potential exposure sites, including an OPSM store at Golden Grove, a food warehouse at Hindmarsh, the Commonwealth Bank at Modbury and an Aldi Supermarket at St Agnes.

There is also some concern for an outdoor reserve at Glenelg.

Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said officials were assuming the man had the Delta variant of the disease, though that was yet to be confirmed.

She said it was known the Delta strain could "spread like wildfire".

© AAP 2021