GPs brace for coronavirus vaccine rollout

Doctors are ironing out complicated logistics and asking for patience as they prepare to give millions of Australians the coronavirus vaccine.

The rollout has so far occurred at government-run hubs across the nation which provided the free vaccines to frontline health staff and hotel quarantine workers, along with aged and disability care residents and employees.

General practitioners will be part of the rollout from March 22, when older and vulnerable Australians will be able to get the virus jab from their local doctor.

The staggered rollout is expected to eventually include more than 4000 clinics.

Deputy chair of the Australian GP Alliance Mukesh Haikerwal says doctors are preparing to have all hands on deck, while they wait for more information from officials.

"We will do it, we will have to work after hours, we will have to work weekends. We're prepared to do the work, we always have," Dr Haikerwal told ABC radio on Monday.

"But we have got to be supported."

The vaccines are free and voluntary for Australians, with GPs to get $55 if patients get their two doses from the same clinic.

Dr Haikerwal is wary of that policy, as there are many reasons why Australians will not be able to return to where they received their first dose, leaving doctors in the lurch.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners President Karen Price says clinics have to plan for extra staff and spaces for patients to wait and be monitored after receiving their jabs.

"That all factors into the complex maths equation that they've got to work out, whether or not that's going to affect their bottom line," Dr Price told Sky News.

"And on top of that they've got their usual business to do with caring for their communities."

Sydney GP and former federal politician Kerryn Phelps says there is a huge discrepancy in the number of vaccines her two clinics have been allocated, with one set to get 50 jabs a week and the other 450.

Dr Price says the smaller amount of allocated doses has caught some clinics off guard but it is best to start the rollout slow and safe in order for it to become established.

Health Department boss Brendan Murphy says a vaccine eligibility tracker will be available over the next week.

Former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard was among the first Australians to get the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday.

She joined Health Minister Greg Hunt and Professor Murphy - formerly the chief medical officer - at a Melbourne clinic.

Two weeks earlier, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly were among the first to be vaccinated with the Pfizer jab.

As of Sunday, more than 81,000 Australians had been vaccinated.