Hundreds more GPs to join vaccine rollout

Hundreds more general practice clinics are preparing to join the national coronavirus vaccination program as the rollout begins to gather pace.

The number of clinics involved will double from 1500 to 3000 by the end of this week, following criticism the program is moving far slower than planned.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has blamed the sluggish start on international supply chain issues.

He is confident the rollout will speed up now that locally made doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are rolling off production lines.

Almost 842,000 doses have been administered since the program started more than a month ago.

A national daily record of 79,000 injections were given on Thursday, ahead of the long weekend.

But the government is still a long way short of its promise to vaccinate four million people by April.

Mr Hunt has avoided putting a time frame on when the first two phases of the vaccination program, focusing on frontline health workers and older Australians, would be competed.

Labor frontbencher Pat Conroy said the rollout had been plagued by chaos and dysfunction.

Mr Conroy said one of the largest GP clinics in his electorate was set back by several days when a shipment of vaccines was sent to the wrong address.

His electorate is home to 24,000 constituents over the age of 70, who have no clear idea of when they will receive their two doses of vaccinations.

“This isn’t about politics,” Mr Conroy said on Monday.