The general COVID-19 vaccination in Australia program began on 22 February 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of vaccinating all willing people in Australia before 2022. Front-line workers and aged care staff and residents had priority for being inoculated, before a gradual phased release to less-vulnerable and lower-risk population groups throughout 2021. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved four vaccines for Australian use in 2021: the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine on 25 January, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine on 16 February, Janssen vaccine on 25 June and the Moderna vaccine on 9 August. Although approved for use, the Janssen vaccine was not included in the Australian vaccination program .
As of 3 August 2022, Australia had administered 62,492,656 vaccine doses across the country. (NB: The data on this site changes daily)(NB: The data on this site changes daily.) (NB: The data on this site changes daily) The country's vaccination rollout initially faced criticism for its slow pace and late start, falling far below initial government targets. Despite this, Australia began vaccinating its citizens at a comparatively fast pace, overtaking the United States in first dose coverage by 10 October 2021. Over 95% of the Australian population aged 12 and over are now fully vaccinated.
Vaccine rollout and distribution
The federal government has stated it will provide free COVID-19 vaccinations to everyone living in Australia, largely regardless of immigration status. Like most vaccines, Australians do not need a prescription to receive them.
COVID-19 vaccine national rollout phases +National vaccine rollout strategy Order Priority group Number of eligible (estimated) Number of doses targeted Progress Phase 1a1 Quarantine, border & front-line health care workers 678,000 up to 1.4 million Completed 2 Front-line health care worker sub-groups for prioritisation 3 Aged care and disability care staff 4 Aged care and disability care residents Phase 1b 5 Elderly adults aged 80 years and over 6,139,000 up to 14.8 million Completed 6 Elderly adults aged 70–79 years 7 Other health care workers 8 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 55 and over 9 Adults with an underlying medical condition, including those with a disability 10 Critical and high-risk workers, including defence, emergency services and meat processing Phase 2a 11 Elderly adults aged 60–69 years 6,570,000 up to 15.8 million Completed 12 Adults aged 40–59 years 13 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18–54 14 Other critical and high-risk workers Phase 2b 15 Adults aged 16–39 years 6,643,000 up to 16 million Completed 16 Any unvaccinated Australians from previous phases Phase 3 17 Australians aged 12–15 years 1,243,990 up to 2.4 million Completed Phase 4 18Booster dose for immunocompromised 500,000 500,000 Completed 19Booster dose for aged 18+ 20,037,617 20 million Completed 20 Children aged 5–11 years - - Completed
On 21 February 2021, a day before the previously announced program start date, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, Chief Nurse Alison McMillan, Kris Matthews and "a small group" of aged care staff and residents became the first Australians to receive the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine. The early vaccination was heavily televised with the hopes of reassuring Australians about the quality, efficacy, and safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
On 22 March, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced the start of the phase-1b vaccination roll-out. In this phase, more than 6 million Australians are targeted for inoculation, and approximate 1,000 GP clinics are participating in vaccination all over the nation to ramp up the speed of vaccination.
The Federal Government of Australia has decided to prioritise people 50 years or older for vaccination. They will be eligible for vaccination from 3 May 2021 at General Practice Respiratory Clinics and state or territory vaccination clinics. From 17 May, people over 50 can also get their vaccination at selected participating GP clinics. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation advised the government to reserve the Pfizer vaccine for those under 50 years of age, and the AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered for phase 2a.
On 19 August 2021, an announcement was made by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that adult residents aged 16–39 will be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine from 30 August 2021.
On 5 December 2021, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia's medical regulator, approved access for five to 11-year-olds to the Pfizer vaccine. As of 10 December 2021, it was planned to start vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 with the Pfizer vaccine from 10 January 2022.
Vaccination statistics
Cumulative vaccinations in Australia
Daily vaccinations chart of Australia
Cumulative vaccinations in states/territories
Vaccination rollout by state and territory
State or territory Eligible population aged 12+ First dose administered Second dose administered Population received first dose (12+) Population received both doses (12+) Australian Capital Territory 363,730 365,858 358,999 >99% New South Wales 6,955,981 6,535,213 6,405,004 Northern Territory 203,631 177,480 159,560 Queensland 4,382,853 3,784,644 3,419,829 South Australia 1,523,147 1,363,344 1,246,285 Tasmania 466,480 438,183 408,599 Victoria 5,716,185 5,325,153 5,193,385 Western Australia 2,247,847 1,937,765 1,724,451 21,863,949 20,142,711 19,101,361
Vaccination statistics for all age groups
Population age group Partially vaccinated Fully Vaccinated 0+ 78.4% 74.3% 12+ 92.1% 87.4% 16+ 93.0% 88.5% 70+ >99% 98.3%As of 7 December 2021 12:00 AEST
Vaccination doses by jurisdiction and delivery channel
State or territory Vaccination hub Aged care GP clinicsAustralian Capital Territory 730,672 16,549 678,151New South Wales 5,002,549 557,944 11,715,218Northern Territory 316,951 7,406 216,406Queensland 3,759,098 199,374 6,566,726South Australia 1,736,266 83,916 1,995,313Tasmania 598,116 22,449 619,589Victoria 5,916,835 234,852 8,495,137Western Australia 2,408,043 104,757 3,525,705 20,468,530 1,227,247 33,812,245As of 18 March 2022 14:00 AEST(NB: The data on this site changes daily.)
Australian Capital Territory
On 22 February 2021, the first Canberran received a COVID-19 vaccination. She was a 22-year-old registered nurse, and a member of a COVID-19 testing team.
In the ACT, by 11 June 2021, one mass vaccination clinic centre in Garran, one vaccination clinic in Calvary Public Hospital and some selected GP clinics were delivering vaccinations.
60% of the population of the ACT had received their first dose as of 24 August 2021. On 11 September 2021, the ACT became the first Australian state or territory to have 50% of the eligible adult population over 16-years-old fully vaccinated. On 30 September 2021, the ACT became the first state or territory to reach 90% of first doses administered to the 16-years or older eligible population.
New South Wales On 8 April 2021, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommended that the Pfizer vaccine (Comirnaty) be preferred over the AstraZeneca vaccine in people under the age of 50. This led to the NSW government to temporarily suspend inoculation with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the state for one day.
On 10 May 2021, a mass vaccination hub opened at Sydney Olympic Park. The same day, registrations began for NSW residents aged 40 to 49 to receive the Pfizer vaccine. On 9 August, the Sydney SuperDome at Sydney Olympic Park was opened as a Pfizer vaccination hub for Higher School Certificate (HSC) students. The hub was fully booked with almost 3,000 appointments on its first day. The Sydney SuperDome vaccination hub closed on 7 November 2021, after delivering more than 360,000 doses.
From 16 June 2021, NSW residents who were aged over 50 could get an AstraZeneca vaccination from selected pharmacies. The NSW health department approved 1,250 pharmacies to administer the vaccine under strict regulations.
On 12 July, the state government opened up the AstraZeneca vaccine to over-40s, with vaccination hubs opening in the Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool regions, amid a growing outbreak in those areas of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
On 24 July, ATAGI released a statement in response to the NSW Delta outbreak, which stated that all individuals aged 18 years and over in greater Sydney, including adults under 60 years of age, should strongly consider getting vaccinated with any available vaccine, including the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine. This was based on an increased risk of COVID-19 infection and ongoing constraints in supplies of the Pfizer vaccine.
On 24 August, NSW reached the milestone of 60% first doses administered to the eligible population. On 2 September NSW became the first state to reach the 70% level of first doses given to their eligible population.
By 5 September 2021, 40% of the NSW population was fully vaccinated. On 15 September 2021, NSW became the first state in the country to have 80% of its population having at least one vaccine dose. By 17 September 2021, 50% of the 16 years, or older, population of NSW had received two vaccine doses.
On 26 September 2021, 60% of eligible residents became fully (double dose) COVID-19 vaccinated. 85% had a single vaccine dose.
On 27 September 2021, the three-stage roadmap to come out of lockdown, and freedoms for vaccinated versus unvaccinated people, was announced by then Premier Gladys Berejiklian. All three stages depend upon reaching the double-dose vaccination rates of 70, 80 and 90%.
On 7 October 2021, 70% of eligible residents who were aged 16 and over became fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 2 days later, the same demographic reached 90% having had at least one dose. On 11 October 2021, NSW moved to Phase Two - Vaccination Transition Phase as the state achieved 70% full vaccination of the eligible population the previous week. Premier (as of 5 October) Dominic Perrottet announced "Freedom-day" for NSW as the state came out of lockdown and restrictions were eased, but only for fully vaccinated people, across the state. Some restrictions remained in place until the 80 and 90% levels of vaccination were reached.
On 16 October 2021, 80% of eligible state residents became fully vaccinated against COVID-19. NSW was the first state or territory to achieve 80% full vaccination. The single dose vaccination rate in NSW was 91.9% on 15 October.
On 8 November 2021, a new COVID-19 vaccination clinic opened at the Granville Centre after the closing of the Sydney SuperDome clinic on 7 September. The Granville clinic will open between 8 am and 4 pm, seven days a week for first, second or booster doses.
Northern Territory On 22 February 2021, the first COVID-19 vaccinations (phase 1A) in the Northern Territory (NT) were administered to "at-risk frontline workers" using the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. As of 13 June 2021, 25 general practices and 3 respiratory clinics were delivering vaccinations across the territory.
Queensland By 13 June 2021, the Queensland Health Department was delivering vaccines under phase 1a, 1b & 2a (people aged over 40) in the state. Age 40+ vaccination centres including hospitals, event centres and GP clinics. Eligible residents can register their interest in vaccinations online or make an appointment at the nearest centre. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that preparation is underway to establish a mass vaccination centre by the end of 2021.
The state's first mass vaccination hub opened at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on 11 August.
South Australia On 5 May 2021 the first Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination was administered at Murray Bridge. The recipient was a doctor in regional SA.