Aussies who got first AstraZeneca jab urged to get second

Australia's Chief Medical Officer has warned people not to cancel their second AstraZeneca dose and try to "mix and match", regardless of age.

Despite the recent elevation in age from 50 to 60 for the AstraZeneca vaccine, Professor Paul Kelly said the risk of the "very rare" TTS blood clotting condition dropped to 1.5 people per million in a second dose.

"This is far outweighed by the risk posed by COVID at any age," Professor Kelly said.

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Professor Kelly urged people to not start "mixing and matching" the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.

"Don't cancel your second vaccine," he said.

"You need to have that second vaccine to get the full protection from the AstraZeneca."

More than 6.5 million coronavirus vaccine doses have now been administered nationally, Navy Commodore Eric Young, a coordinator of Australia's vaccine rollout, said.

Last week, 723,442 jabs were given, taking the national total to 6,590,741.

He said the priority now was to increase the availability of the Pfizer vaccine, through both government-run vaccination hubs, and GPs.

Commodore Young said there was no issue with vaccine supply to Australia.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration last week cleared 721,100 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 298,350 doses of Pfizer, he said.

"Last week was our biggest week by far," he said.

More than 1.2 million doses were distributed to 200,000 locations across the country.