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“As the Pfizer numbers grow from 1 to 2 million per week and as Moderna grows to 3 million per month,or say 700,000 per week,we will be able to deliver well over 2 million doses per week if there is demand.

“That will give us the capacity to vaccinate everyone in Australia who wants to have a vaccine by the end of the year.”

Mr Hunt said that last week Australia had five consecutive days of more than 200,000 jabs of the AstraZeneca delivered daily and the three biggest days ever,by volume,on Wednesday,Thursday and Friday.

Patients wait in line for the vaccine at the Royal Exhibition Building Vaccination Hub.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

The first million doses of the Moderna vaccine,which like Pfizer is a high tech mRNA vaccine,will arrive mid-September. Another three million doses are expected to arrive in each of October,November and December.

While the arrival of a third highly effective vaccine in the year’s fourth quarter will be welcomed,authorities are still trying to encourage immediate take up of the AstraZeneca vaccine which is being made onshore and is highly effective.

Many people are wary of having the AZ jab because of frequently changing expert advice about the safety of the vaccine for people under 60. About one in a million people have died from a rare form of blood clot that can be triggered by the jab.

The federal government’s monthly vaccine survey shows the proportion of people intending to get vaccinated has risen from 67 per cent three months ago to 70 a month ago to 77 per cent now. Thirteen per cent of people are considering getting vaccinated while 10 per cent don’t intend to.

“Vaccine intention is going up and hesitancy is going down,” Mr Hunt said.

More than 80 per cent of people over 70 in Australia have now had at least one vaccine dose,while 68 per cent of over 50s have had at least one jab and more than 40 per cent of the population over 16 have received one dose.

While these rates represent a significant improvement,Australia still lags behind the two dose vaccination rate of most OECD countries at a time when Sydney’s outbreak is worsening and both south east Queensland and Victoria are in lockdown because of community cases.

COVID-19 vaccine rollout chief Lieutenant-General John Frewen with federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The federal government has also purchased 7700 doses of Sotrovimab,a monoclonal antibody treatment that mimics the human body’s immune system to produce antibodies to fight COVID-19,and doctors will be able to use the new treatment for some infections.

It is most effective for people who have contracted mild to moderate COVID-19,rather than in more severe cases.

Former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth said Sotrovimab was “clearly not a substitute for a vaccine” but would help people who caught COVID-19 by preventing them from becoming severely ill.

“This is likely to be used for older Australians and for people who diabetes,heart problems,kidney disease or chronic lung disease,” he said.

In a move designed to assist people struggling with mental health issues during Sydney’s extended lockdown,and Melbourne’s sixth lockdown since the pandemic began,the federal government will spend $17.7 million on 10 “Head to Health” mental support services in Sydney and an extra $7.1 million on existing clinics in Melbourne.

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