Pfizer supply questions as vaccine bookings open for Canberra children

It comes as the Barr government pushes for concrete answers on whether the ACT has been short-changed of Pfizer supplies for the month of October.

About 25,000 children will be able to book in for a vaccine at a mass vaccination clinic this week, as the ACT enters the next phase of its rollout.

But with the next available appointment not until mid-October, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has told parents that the "fastest path" to have their children vaccinated could be through a GP or pharmacy.

The opening of bookings will coincide with the ACT moving to report vaccination coverage of its over-12 population in its daily update, rather than over-16s.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr had already committed to including 12 to 15 year-olds in the vaccination targets which need to be hit to restore freedoms under the national reopening plan.

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Ms Stephen-Smith on Sunday said federal health minister Greg Hunt had assured her that the ACT's allocation of Pfizer doses had not been cut, but she was still awaiting written confirmation.

Mr Barr on Saturday said he had been forced to confront Prime Minister Scott Morrison over what appeared to be a 60,000 dose reduction in the ACT's allocation of the vaccine for next month.

Ms Stephen-Smith said other states had shared concerns about Pfizer supplies in October - a point supported by comments from Victorian premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday.

"National cabinet was told that there are some issues with just exactly how much Pfizer is coming in October, an issue with the order, and I'm sure the Commonwealth government is working very hard to resolve that ... but it is a bit uncertain exactly how much Pfizer will come to our country, and of course our state next month," Mr Andrews said.

The Canberra Times contacted Mr Hunt and the head of the COVID-19 taskforce, Lieutenant General John Frewen, to ask if Mr Barr's claims were correct and if so, what was being done to fix the situation.

A spokesman did not clarify whether Barr's comments were correct, but said the ACT's allocation of mRNA vaccine would increase from 151,000 in September to 227,000 in October.

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