NSW set to hit 70 per cen...

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has targeted the end of October for when life in greater Sydney could become more normal, adding NSW hoped to take a different approach to Covid in November.

August 28 is when the government is expected to extend greater Sydney's lockdown for a fourth time and, by then, more than 6 million people will have been living in lockdown for nine weeks.

But Ms Berejiklian said late October was a likely date for when the state would reach 70 per cent of the eligible population being fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

She said the Doherty report – which was published to advise on the national plan to transition Australia’s national Covid response – asserted 70 per cent was the magic number.

It is a slither of hope for NSW residents – who have been subject to political buck-passing on the government’s botched vaccine rollout – on a day when the state recorded 344 new locally acquired cases of coronavirus.

“As per the Doherty Institute report, two doses of 70 per cent vaccination (is the target) and NSW, if we had the current pace, we will hit that around the end of October,” she said.

“(We will reach) 80 per cent towards the end of November. According to the Doherty report, that is when life gets back to normal, that is when we have a different approach to Covid, when freedoms that we had will be in place and we can look forward to having a normal existence.”

The federal government’s botched vaccine rollout has been a comedy of errors that no-one is laughing at.

It has has been hampered by supply issues in Europe, damaging medical advice against younger people taking the AstraZeneca jab, delays in local production and unreliable distribution from the Commonwealth to the states and GPs.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who declared the vaccination rollout “was not a race”, was also accused of buying “the cheap option” in AstraZeneca by Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie.

The federal government's initial timeline was to have the entire eligible population vaccinated by October.

Currently, 18 per cent of Australians have been fully vaccinated while 36 per cent have had at least one dose.

In NSW, there have been 4.5 million doses administered in total.

While NSW awaits the end of October, Ms Berejiklian said if 6 million jabs were administered by the end of August, a few restrictions could be relaxed.

“The challenge for us is how we live in September and October,” she said.

“With 6 million jabs by the end of August, if achieved, there will be opportunities for us in parts of the communities where cases are low and vaccination rates are high for them to do more than they do today.”

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant refused to speculate what those eased restrictions would be.

There has been some speculation it would be students returning to school and some industries returning to workplaces.

“August 10 right now, is a long way away from August 31 (when the current lockdown is set to either end or be continued),” Dr Chant said.

“The situation could change rapidly. Me, my team, NSW Health, we are committed to driving down those numbers and we don't want to see the spread of the virus further.

“But we are looking at opportunities for us in parts of the communities where cases are low and vaccination rates are high for them to do more than they do today.

“That is what we are working towards and something that our government is very keen to make possible.”

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