Australian Medical Association's ACT president Dr Walter Abhayaratna on under-40s allowed to get the AstraZeneca

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said it had always been the advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, that people under 60 could talk to their doctor if they wished to get AstraZeneca.

She said the new no-fault indemnity scheme for GPs administering the vaccine would provide them "a level of confidence in having those conversations with younger people".

"If both agreed that the best thing for them to do was get vaccinated ... they could always talk to their GP and get that authority."

The Commonwealth's insurance scheme only applies to general practitioners.

An ACT government spokeswoman said Canberrans under 60 cannot book in for a jab at the Calvary clinic.

People aged under 50 will be able to use Medicare for a vaccine consultation with a doctor, bringing them in line with older Australians.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the medical advice had not changed - AstraZeneca remained the preferred vaccine for people aged over 60 and Pfizer was recommended for those under 60.

Mr Hunt argued the only change was making AstraZeneca available in more locations.

However, it is clear this decision was not universally supported.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk believes governments should follow the advice of an expert panel known as ATAGI, which recommended AstraZeneca only be given to people aged over 60.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is also lukewarm about the shift in position.

Ms Berejiklian confirmed the change was discussed at national cabinet and would be followed in NSW, but barely endorsed the policy.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley insisted the AstraZeneca call was not a decision of national cabinet.

ACT president of the Australian Medical Association Dr Walter Abhayaratna said the peak body of doctors had been pushing for insurance for general practitioners to administer AstraZeneca for some time.

Following a national cabinet meeting on Monday, Mr Morrison said people under 60 who want to get the AstraZeneca vaccine are now encouraged to talk to their doctor to make a "risk-based decision" and doctors would be insured to do so.

"That level of certainty that they are covered for the unlikely events [of blood clotting], so that GPs can just get on with their jobs means they are much more likely to be willing and able to help with the roll out," Dr Abhayaratna said.

Dr Abhayaratna said the latest report found the risk of blood clotting to be 3.1 cases per 100,000 for under 50s which only dropped marginally to 2.7 per 100,000 for 50-59 year olds for the first dose of AstraZeneca.

"After that the second dose is about 1.5 per million risk," he said.

The National Cabinet agreed on Monday to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all residential aged care workers, with all employees to received their first dose by September.

Dr Abhayaratna said it had never made sense to the AMA that those front line workers had not been required by law to be vaccinated.

"The repercussion of COVID-19 infections in aged-care facilities are the most dier, we would've expected that it would've been a priority to get those aged-care workers vaccinated," he said.

For people under 40 looking to book in this week, Dr Abhayaratna said the risk shouldn't be ignored if they had a history of blood clotting.

"What we are supportive of is that people get their vaccinations," he said.

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"Noting that people should have a choice with the AstraZeneca given the information that we're getting on TTS [Thrombotic with thrombocytopenic syndrome] here in Australia."

"As long as people are informed and they've had that discussion with their gp, that's best practice," he said.

According to statement from the prime minister's office, more than 7,374,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Australia so far.

To date 28.6 per cent of the Australian population aged 16 and over have now had at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including over 68.1 per cent of over 70 year olds.

The ACT will look to rapidly accelerate its vaccine program when the bulk of the remaining 500,000 doses of Pfizer arrive from October.

Projections from the federal government show that there would be enough vaccines in Canberra to vaccinate everyone by the end of September.

- with AAP

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