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The co-chair of Australia's official expert vaccine panel has cautioned people under 40 to only consider the AstraZeneca jab in pressing circumstances.

A bitter spat has broken out between politicians and health officials over the coronavirus vaccine rollout.

On Monday, Scott Morrison encouraged people under 40 keen for the AstraZeneca vaccine to talk to their GP.

More than 2600 Australians under 40 have received AstraZeneca since the prime minister's comments.

But the mangled messaging has fuelled fear and confusion over who should get which vaccine.

Christopher Blyth, who co-chairs the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, said people under 60 should get the Pfizer jab.

Professor Blyth said people in that age group should only be considering AstraZeneca in "pressing" circumstances.

"There are some situations where that would be warranted, but they are quite small," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"The ATAGI advice is that Pfizer is our preference for those under the age of 60 years."

Mr Morrison provided GPs legal protection to vaccinate all adults and offered patients Medicare cover for their consultations.

But several state premiers and their medical advisers have pushed back against his advice.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young was accused of scaremongering after declaring she didn't want an 18-year-old to die from blood clots linked to AstraZeneca. The side effect is extremely rare.

Dr Young reaffirmed her advice for people under 40 to wait for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in a fiery news conference.

"This is getting absolutely silly," she told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.

The veteran doctor defended her 16 years' involvement with Australia's immunisation programs.

"I am on the record as supporting vaccination. But I want the right vaccine to go to the right person," Dr Young said.

Medical professionals distanced themselves from Dr Young's remarks about blood clots, which can be treatable.

Australian Medical Association vice president Chris Moy described her comments as concerning and inappropriate.

"As a doctor, my job is to offer an opinion and to offer treatments of medical benefit, it's not to deliver things as an edict," Dr Moy told the ABC.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners director Charlotte Hespe said Dr Young was scaremongering.

Infectious diseases expert Nick Coatsworth said the risk of younger people dying from coronavirus was higher than the clotting disorder.

"Nearly every medical leader distanced themselves from Dr Young's comments," he told the Seven Network.

"She's unfortunately out on a very lonely limb there."

Senior Morrison government minister Simon Birmingham went on the counterattack against Labor premiers, describing attempts to politicise the issue as "shameful".

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said the federal-state spilt was causing confusion.

"Unfortunately, the prime minister's thrown a little bit of a hand grenade into our vaccine program," he told Sky News.

As well as shining a light on the beleaguered vaccine rollout, outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta strain have forced harsh restrictions across the country.

More than 12 million people are locked down across Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and NSW.

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A new app promises to make contact tracing data more accessible to Australians.

The CRISPER app was developed by researchers at the Australian National University and the University of Queensland and launched on Thursday for desktop and smartphones.

Project lead ANU Professor Colleen Lau said the app provides accurate, reliable and "spatially explicit" real-time information on COVID-19.

"It is nice and visual and on a map compared to just getting a list of locations so it is much easier for people," Professor Lau told AAP.

"You can zoom in to where you live or work and see if there are any (exposure site) locations near you."

The researchers currently use publicly available post-code level data to create a national database of cases, deaths, testing, and contact tracing alert locations.

The app was not funded, created or endorsed by any government but it uses data from health departments across Australia on health advice and exposure sites, dates and times.

Professor Lau said the app updates around every hour and was more "user friendly" than trying to keep tabs on the COVID-19 alerts for each suburb, state and territory every day.

CRISPER also provides a national summaries dashboard, an interactive mapping tool for NSW and users can set up automatic alerts for certain locations.

Lau said while the project was designed for the general public, as a former GP she knew how helpful it would be for health professionals.

"GPs are very busy so [with the app] they can see what is happening around their clinic and know if they have a patient coming in with symptoms whether there is an exposure site nearby," Professor Lau said.

ANU epidemiologist Dr Meru Sheel said the app was a "one stop shop" to review exposure sites and it would help epidemiologists understand transmission patterns.

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Melbourne United championship winner Sam McDaniel has become the first free agent signing of new NBL side the Tasmania JackJumpers.

McDaniel on Thursday inked a three-year deal with the JackJumpers ahead of their entry into the competition in 2021/22.

The 25-year-old is the son of Wayne McDaniel, who played for the Hobart Devils from 1989-94, and played a key defensive role in United's run to the title.

McDaniel played 24 games for Melbourne this season after joining the club in 2018. He was born in Hobart and his partner has family in Tasmania.

"It feels amazing, it is a super exciting time with a new club coming into the NBL," he said.

"I thought it was a great opportunity to get on board and get down to Tassie.

"My dad played some pretty good ball out there as well all those years ago, so I am looking forward to it."

McDaniel said he was keen to work under defensive-minded JackJumpers' coach Scott Roth.

"We have always said having a Tasmanian flavour is important to us at the JackJumpers and Sam's homecoming is a prime example of that," Roth said.

McDaniel is the first free agent signing for Tasmania and becomes the second player on the club's books after local teenager Sejr Deans joined in April on a development contract.

The JackJumpers have been linked to free agent and Adelaide 36er Jack McVeigh. More than 1700 people have signed up as members.

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A gun amnesty has come into effect across Australia, allowing anyone with unregistered or unwanted firearms to hand them over to police without being penalised.

The amnesty, announced by the federal government, aims to remove such weapons from the community where they could fall into the hands of criminals.

"Unregistered firearms are a threat to our community," Assistant Minister for Community Safety Jason Wood said on Thursday.

"They are difficult to trace and can fall into the hands of criminals to commit terrible crimes while avoiding police detection."

Anyone holding an unregistered firearm or firearm-related item can from Thursday surrender it to a police station, anonymously and without penalty, for registration, sale or destruction.

Licensed firearms dealers will also be able to accept surrendered firearms in most states and territories.

"If you have an unregistered firearm and you want to keep it, hand it in and see if you can register it," Mr Wood said in a statement.

"If you don't want to keep your firearm, hand it in. Your community will thank you."

But if a person does not surrender an unregistered firearm and is found holding one, they could be prosecuted.

The last national firearms amnesty in 2017 resulted in more than 57,000 weapons being handed in across Australia.

This amnesty will be permanent, the government said.

No compensation for surrendered weapons will be paid.

People surrendering weapons to police or a dealer should call ahead and deliver the items in a bag or other covering, unloaded.

WHAT'S INCLUDED UNDER THE AMNESTY:

* Gel blasters - toy guns that look a lot like real guns that fire gel balls'. Western Australia will ban these from July 3.

* Crossbows - not specifically included but contact your local police to arrange surrender.

* Illegal accessories - silencers, ammunition and other parts are included.

* Faulty firearms and parts - included.

* Licensed firearms - included.

© AAP 2021