CANBERRA • Australian federal and state leaders will discuss ways to speed up the country's coronavirus vaccination roll-out and shift to alternatives to the AstraZeneca shot in their upcoming meeting, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday.

Current vaccine supplies are sufficient to cover initial stages of the programme currently under way that target front-line workers and the elderly, Mr Morrison said.

The national Cabinet meeting today will focus on a strategy for the next phase, and will discuss blood-clotting cases associated with the AstraZeneca jab that have led to Australia's immunisation advisory group recommending the government switch to the Pfizer shot for people aged under 50.

"The AstraZeneca vaccination is safe and recommended for use for those aged over 50, there's no change to that," Mr Morrison said.

The government is battling criticism over delays in its vaccination strategy, which has relied heavily on AstraZeneca.

Mr Morrison last week declined to set a new target date for all Australians to receive their first jabs, as an initial year-end deadline looks out of reach.

The Prime Minister was also not willing to commit to any timeline for when Australia might begin relaxing restrictions on travel, or allow returning Australians to quarantine at home, saying "Australia is in no hurry to open those borders".

"I'm not going to put at risk the way that Australians are living today," he said. "We can take small steps - we're not ready to take those steps yet, for Australians to travel and return without quarantining. In a few months from now, we'll see where we're at."

Australia closed its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents in March last year and has been permitting only limited international arrivals in recent months.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS