Health experts are urging all Australians to get the coronavirus vaccine once they are able to, as the start of the jab rollout is heralded as a milestone in the nation's pandemic response.
The rollout commences with about 60,000 Pfizer vaccine doses to be administered to priority groups.
The first Victorian to roll up their sleeve and receive the Pfizer vaccine on Monday morning was Rhonda Stuart, the head of infection control at Monash Health.
"I'm really proud to be getting this vaccine and starting the next chapter in our work against COVID," she told reporters.
"Now the aim is to get all our healthcare workers vaccinated and then out to the public as well."
Professor Stuart's team treated Victoria's first confirmed COVID-19 case in January last year and hundreds of others since.
"It's 14 months since we saw the first patient. So amazing we've got to this stage where we can be vaccinating people to protect ourselves against it, it's really wonderful," she said.
Nurse Rachel Hogben, who manages the intensive care unit at Dandenong Hospital, said she felt relieved to receive the jab.
"I'm actually a little bit more emotional than I thought that I would be. Very relieved," she said.
"I feel like this is the way forward ... we're no longer acting defensively against this, we're now on the offensive and it's an amazing day."
Health and border control workers, and aged care residents and their carers have started getting the Pfizer vaccine on Monday, at hubs across the country.
But Australia's deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd concedes about 20 per cent of the community are hesitant towards getting a vaccination against coronavirus.
Such a view was on show at the weekend when .
Dr Kidd has sought to assure Australians the medical regulator has undertaken rigorous testing to ensure the jabs are safe and efficient.
"Please, when it comes to be your turn, please line up along with the rest of us and get your vaccine," he told the ABC on Monday.
"Today is a real milestone in our collective response to tackle COVID-19 and bring things as rapidly under control as we can."
Two nurses have become the first West Australians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, saying they hope it will save lives and ease the strain on the healthcare system.
Essential workers including police and medial professionals register at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Vaccination Hub in Sydney, Monday, 22 February, 2021. Source: AAP
Hotel quarantine nurses Antonio Garza and Keita Winks each received the Pfizer jab at the Hyatt in Perth on Monday, marking the start of WA's rollout.
Describing it as quick and painless, they urged West Australians to get on board with getting vaccinated.
"We just had to go through all the paperwork, get checked off ... rolled up the sleeve, got the shot," Ms Garza told reporters.
"No different than any other vaccine.
"Vaccines save lives, reduces the burden on our healthcare system and our doctors and nurses. Us getting this done protects the vulnerable as well. There's so many positives to having it."
Quarantine and international border workers and high-risk frontline healthcare staff in aged and disability care are first in line to get the jab in WA.
About 570 hotel quarantine workers have booked in across Monday and Tuesday and the number is expected to grow to 1000 by the end of the week.
Frontline workers including police officers have started receiving COVID-19 vaccinations in NSW, with 35,000 jabs to be administered in the next three weeks.
The rollout started at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred, Westmead and Liverpool hospitals on Monday, where uniformed police officers were among those lining up.
Some 500 recipients, deemed high-risk through their close work with confirmed and potential coronavirus cases, were given the jab at RPA, where Premier Gladys Berejiklian promoted the benefits of the vaccination.
"By the end of October, I hope everybody who is offered the vaccine in NSW, which should be the whole population, does have it by that time," she said.
"It does mean we can think about the settings, overseas travel, easing of restrictions."
All quarantine hotel workers in NSW - about 6500 people a week - will be included in the initial rollout of the jab.
Gayathry Vellangalloor Srinivasan, an Environmental Services Supervisor, was one of the first people in NSW to receive the Pfizer vaccine at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.
Gayathry Vellangalloor Srinivasan received one of the states first Pfizer vaccinations at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Monday, 22 February, 2021. Source: AAP
"Feeling very excited. Very honoured and privileged to be the first person to get the vaccination here in the team. Vaccination, it means a lot, it's a big game-changer for everyone so we can all go back to our new normal lives," she said.
South Australia's first vaccinations for COVID-19 were also been administered on Monday, with the premier and senior officials among the first to be jabbed.
SA has received 4000 doses, with 3000 to be distributed from the Royal Adelaide Hospital and 1000 from the Flinders Medical Centre.
The state's 1700 frontline workers will be targeted first, including 500 staff at Adelaide Airport, more than 1000 people who work in Adelaide's quarantine hotels and 50 people involved in transferring arrivals.
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said she had full confidence in the safety of the Pfizer jab and urged as many people as possible to take part.
Among the first frontline workers to take part on Monday was nurse Annabel Thomas, who has worked in Adelaide's quarantine hotels and who also spent time in Victoria during Melbourne's second wave of infections last year.
Nurse Annabel Thomas was among the first to receive the Pfizer Vaccine at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, Monday, 22 February, 2021. Source: AAP
"I can't stress enough to all South Australians that vaccination is a vital part of getting back to life pre-COVID," she said.
"I'd strongly suggest everyone be a part of this program."
Queensland is on track to give more than 170 people the coronavirus vaccine on day one of the rollout after the first person in the state received the jab.
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said it was a historic day, coming just more than a year after the first case appeared in the state.
She said the vaccine was the best way to protect the public and return to normalcy.
"This is the answer: we have five million Queenslanders here and if we want to keep five million Queenslanders safe, we need you to get vaccinated," Ms D'Ath said.
Vaccinations are not compulsory for aged care workers in Australia, but the nation's top medical panel are still considering the issue.
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said any changes would be based on advice from medical experts, but he expected most workers in the sector to get the jab.
"That's the indications that we're seeing so far, not just in aged care but I think there is a great anticipation in the community," he told Sky News.
Aged care resident Jane Malysiak, 85, who survived World War II in Poland as a child before migrating to Australia, was .
Health Minister Greg Hunt and the head of the Health Department Brendan Murphy will get the alternative AstraZeneca jab when it becomes available, which is expected to be next month.
The government is committed to offer COVID-19 vaccines to all Australians by the end of October.
Both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines require two separate doses for a person to be fully immunised - Pfizer 21 days apart and AstraZeneca 12 weeks apart.
You may have noticed SBS News is .
Here's where else you can find our content and follow us:
