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US technology entrepreneur John McAfee has hanged himself in his prison cell after the Spanish high court authorised his extradition to the United States on tax evasion charges, his lawyer says.

Known for his eccentric behaviour, McAfee, 75, was a pioneer of anti-virus software, introducing his eponymous program in the 1980s. He had been indicted in Tennessee on tax evasion charges. He also was charged in a cryptocurrency fraud case in New York.

McAfee was arrested in Barcelona airport then jailed there in October. Prison authorities were investigating the cause of death.

Spain's high court agreed to extradite McAfee to the US, a court document released on Wednesday said. The provincial justice department confirmed that a US man aged 75 was found dead in his cell on Wednesday.

McAfee still had opportunities to appeal his conviction but could not stand more time in jail, the lawyer Javier Villalba said.

"This is the result of a cruel system that had no reason to keep this man in jail for so long," Villalba said.

During a court hearing last month, McAfee said that given his age, he would spend the rest of his life in jail if he were to be convicted in the US.

"I am hoping that the Spanish court will see the injustice of this," he said, adding "the United States wants to use me as an example".

McAfee, who sold his software company to Intel in 2011 and no longer had any involvement in the business, lived a colourful life.

He said in 2019 that he had not paid US income taxes for eight years for ideological reasons. That year, he left the US to avoid trial, largely living on a mega-yacht with his wife, four large dogs, two security guards and seven staff.

He offered to help Cuba avoid a US trade embargo using cryptocurrency and sought to run for US president for the Libertarian Party.

McAfee, who said in 2018 that he had fathered at least 47 children, lived in Belize for several years. He fled after police sought him for questioning in the 2012 murder of a neighbour. He had one million followers on Twitter.

He met his wife, Janice McAfee, when she solicited him as a prostitute while he was on the run, he said.

Janice McAfee said in a post on Twitter on Sunday, "Now the US authorities are determined to have John die in prison to make an example of him for speaking out against the corruption within their government agencies.There is no hope of him ever having a fair trial in America."

In December 2019, John McAfee tweeted: "Getting subtle messages from US officials saying, in effect: 'We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself'. I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. [sic] Check my right arm."

© RAW 2021

Photo: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The coordinator of Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout says supplies are being "carefully managed" ahead of a major ramping up of doses from August.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is quarantining at The Lodge in Canberra following an overseas trip, met via teleconference with state and territory leaders on Monday to discuss the rollout.

Premiers have been critical of a shortage of supplies.

Lieutenant General John Frewen, who is in charge of logistics for the vaccine rollout and briefed the national cabinet, told reporters the premiers had now been given a detailed breakdown of what supplies they can expect, including dose number forecasts.

"We are still in a resource-constrained environment we need to carefully manage," he said.

"But on current forecasts, we are looking forward to ramp up availability of Pfizer through August into September and into October."

The premiers were told they would get supplies based on their population proportion, which NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described as a "relief" to hear.

"What we highlighted today was the need for the federal government to increase the capacity of the GP network," she said.

"I know GPs are very frustrated. There's a number who want to get on board and a number who want to do more. We need to make sure we increase capacity so when those Pfizer doses arrive, we have the capacity to get them out the door."

Authorities revealed NSW's request for an additional 50,000 Pfizer doses had been approved before national cabinet.

By the end of July, all 136 Commonwealth vaccination clinics, 40 Aboriginal health services and 1300 GPs will be administering Pfizer.

General Frewen said it remained the plan to offer vaccines to all Australians by the end of the year.

Australian Medical Association vice-president Chris Moy said he was concerned about the rate of patients cancelling their vaccinations after new advice about the AstraZeneca vaccine led to the cut-off age for people to receive it was lowered from 60 to 50.

"This recalibration of the advice is causing significant practical problems," he told ABC radio Adelaide.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, who also briefed national cabinet, urged all people who received their first shot of AstraZeneca to get a second dose.

Officials are pleased 98 per cent of people turned up for their second dose appointments last week, for both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs.

Professor Kelly said the latest survey data on vaccine hesitancy showed the rate of people not prepared to take up vaccinations was stable.

There have now been 6.59 million vaccine doses delivered in Australia including 1.21 million in the past week.

General Frewen said he would soon start releasing information on the rate of fully vaccinated Australians.

"I will be working to make that detail available at the earliest opportunity," he said.

The prime minister is keen for states and territories to lift their vaccination rates.

"We'll work closely with the states and territories - there's no need for argy bargy about it," Mr Morrison said.

"We'll just get on and work together, which is what I think people expect state and Commonwealth governments to do."

General Frewen is working on a new advertising campaign to encourage people to take up vaccines.

"We're just working at the moment to manage the commencement of that in line with the supplies available because we want to make sure we don't start the campaign until we are comfortable to meet the demand."

© AAP 2021

Image Credit: U.S. Secretary of Defense, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons