Twenty-six further COVID-related deaths were reported across Australia on Saturday, as the country prepares for the rollout of a second booster for older and vulnerable people.
NSW recorded more 13 deaths, while there were six fatalities in Queensland, three in Victoria, two in South Australia, one in the Northern Territory, and one in Western Australia.
A further 20,389 COVID-19 cases were detected in NSW in the latest reporting period, with 9,435 new infections in Queensland, 9,149 in Victoria, 7,822 in WA, 4,483 in SA, 1,840 in Tasmania, 808 in the ACT and 421 in the Northern Territory.
Coronavirus hospitalisations are at 1,302 in NSW, 422 in Queensland, 306 in Victoria, 215 in WA, 184 in SA, 43 in the ACT, 36 in Tasmania, and 14 in the NT.
Some 47 COVID-19 patients in NSW are in intensive care, as are 15 in both Queensland and Victoria, eight in SA, six in WA, two in the ACT, and one in both Tasmania and the NT.
The rollout of a second COVID-19 booster dose for older and vulnerable people will begin on Monday, ahead of an expected surge in infections in winter.
The groups eligible to receive a second booster include those 65 or older, Indigenous Australians aged at least 50, disability care residents and the immunocompromised.
An estimated 4.7 million people will be able to get the fourth dose but it's expected less than 200,000 of them will be eligible at the start of the rollout.
People can have a second booster shot four months after receiving their first.
A Senate estimates hearing was told on Friday eligibility in the early stages will be "relatively small" with the bulk of people more likely to be able to book vaccination appointments in May and June.
Health department secretary Dr Brendan Murphy says the fourth jab will be critical to help protect at-risk Australians ahead of winter, with a surge of both virus and influenza cases looming.
"The single most important thing we can do to protect people with underlying medical conditions, people with disability, people at risk of severe COVID, is to get as much vaccination - including full booster protection - as possible," he said.
Guidance has been provided to aged care facilities wishing to have a commonwealth vaccine administrator assist with the new rollout.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee says it's likely a peak of cases associated with a winter spike will hit in mid-April in several jurisdictions.
Comprised of chief health officers from across the country, the group says it is considering recommending quarantine be removed for close contacts of COVID-19 cases.
It says isolation could be replaced by other measures following the peak.
The recommendation would instead urge frequent rapid antigen testing, mask-wearing outside the house and limiting access of close contacts to high-risk settings.
"Where quarantine is required, seven days remains appropriate at this time," the committee said on Friday.
"Removing quarantine at this time may lead to higher caseloads and a reduced capacity for the health system to provide some acute and elective services."
