Canberra Hospital to receive security upgrades for vaccine rollout

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday announced the country remained on track for Australians to receive their first vaccine jabs withing a fortnight.

Once the first vaccines arrived in Australia this week a selection would be taken for testing by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, based in Symonston, to ensure they had not been damaged or compromised in-flight.

Security around the vaccines remained a primary concern for the federal and state and territory governments, with the doses proving a valuable commodity and, in some instances overseas, targeted by criminals.

An ACT government spokeswoman said the territory was working with the federal government to finalise the logistics relating to transporting, storing and distributing vaccines.

"There will be an increased security presence at the Canberra Hospital campus," she said.

"Security systems and processes will be enhanced to ensure the safety of staff, the community and facilities during the rollout of the COVID-19 program."

The spokeswoman added as the program developed more vaccination sites around the ACT might be introduced and work would also be undertaken to ensure those sites were secure.

Frontline health care workers at the Canberra Hospital were due to receive a briefing on Monday about how the vaccine would be rolled out in the ACT.

It is understood workers from Queanbeyan, Yass and Canberra's surrounding regions would be included in the ACT's first phase of the vaccine rollout.

Workers eligible for the vaccine in the first round included quarantine and border employees, frontline health care workers, and residents and staff at aged care facilities.

The government spokeswoman said the Southern NSW local health district had been included in the ACT's clinical response plan to COVID-19.

"The ACT government is working closely with the Commonwealth government and [the surrounding] communities to finalise plans to assist with the vaccine rollout in Canberra's surrounding regions," the spokeswoman said.

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Hunt also announced TGA approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine was running slightly ahead of schedule and he was hopeful it would be announced over the next week.

Mr Hunt said foreign-made doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine would be used in the first phase of Australia's vaccine rollout.

He said he hoped more than 80,000 Pfizer vaccines would arrive in Australia this week, but the minimum agreed amount was 80,000. Australia had a deal with Pfizer to deliver 3 million vaccines by the end of the June quarter, he said.

The ACT government had been planning to announce a further easing of restrictions on Friday, primarily related to capacity limits at larger events and venues, but this was put on hold following the outbreak of the UK strain in Victoria.

Restrictions announced on Friday by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr remained in place, meaning anyone entering the ACT from Victoria must self-isolate. Non-ACT residents who have been in Victoria were told not to come to the ACT.

These restrictions are expected to remain in place while Victoria is locked down but Mr Barr flagged revisiting the planned easing of restrictions if the situation abated.

Two new cases of COVID-19 in Victoria were announced on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases associated with the Holiday Inn cluster to 16.