Vics close Pfizer gap to 3 weeks

TENS of thousands of extra jabs could be sent to Victoria in October as first-dose demand subsides elsewhere and the state’s case numbers threaten to spiral out of control.

This would accelerate Victoria’s push to the 70 per cent full vaccination rate needed to end the lockdown, after Premier Daniel Andrews also agreed to cut the interval between Pfizer doses from six to three weeks.

State-run hubs in Melbourne’s north and west will receive 89,000 doses of Moderna on Sunday after supplies of the mRNA jab were underordered by pharmacies.

It is understood more supply boosts will be considered by federal authorities in the days to come as its “dynamic reallocation” model shifts into a new phase.

With the first-dose rate at 87.19 per cent in NSW and 90.11 per cent in the ACT, some of their promised vaccine deliveries could be sent to Victoria this month, as an uplift in Pfizer supplies is expected to easily cover required second doses plus shots for kids.

As of Thursday, 80.1 per cent of Victorians had received a first dose.

Victorian GPs have also been allocated almost 400,000 Pfizer doses a week from Monday.