Australian states are battling to procure more Covid-19 vaccines after Sydney recorded 35 new exposure sites in just one day and an infected flight attendant was out in the community in Queensland.
An emergency national cabinet meeting has been called for Monday morning to address the vaccine rollout, which has been plagued by delays.
It's hoped that greater vaccination rates would help to curb any further outbreaks across the nation, stopping them from ballooning to unmanageable levels or causing snap lockdowns.
Four new cases were announced in Sydney on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in the city to 13 as dozens of businesses from Parramatta to Bondi were added to the growing list of exposure sites.
National Cabinet are meeting for an emergency discussion about getting more Covid vaccines, as masks once again become mandatory indoors in areas of Sydney (pictured, a woman on George Street in the city's CBD)
Pfizer is now the preferred jab for anyone under the age of 50, as AstraZeneca is feared to heighten the risk of blood clots in younger age groups (pictured, a nurse receives the Pfizer jab in Adelaide)
Premier Gladys Berejiklian also tightened restrictions including mandatory masks on public transport and inside public spaces in Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
She said the 'next few days are critical' and urged residents 'not to be complacent'.
'If cases continue to emerge, we will need to go further,' the Premier said.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham was forced to defend the vaccine rollout on Monday morning after it was labelled a 'shambles' by the Victorian government.
'I don't accept all of that,' Mr Birmingham said when asked by Today show host Karl Stefanovic if he agreed with that assessment of the bungled program.
He said 2.3million doses of the Pfizer vaccine were being administered in June alone, while another 3.4million vials would arrive in Australia to be processed next month.
A leading public health expert meanwhile said New South Wales was paying the price because the airport worker who sparked the state's latest outbreak may not have been vaccinated.
The limousine driver - whose role involved transporting flight crews - tested positive last Wednesday and authorities are now probing the man's vaccination history.
'The driver was not wearing the best possible PPE and doesn’t seem to have been vaccinated,' University of NSW strategic health policy consultant Bill Bowtell told The Sunday Project.
'That’s how it got out into the community.
'The cost of getting that [vaccinations and protective equipment] right at Sydney is trivial compared to the costs the community is now incurring because we’re having to go through this progressive expansion of masking and lockdowns.'
Pictured: Birkenhead Point Brand Outlet in Drummoyne where a person infected with Covid visited 19 stores - plunging hundreds into isolation
Brisbane is also on alert after an international air crew member tested positive for the virus on Saturday, after spending 14 days in hotel quarantine, and having travelled into the CBD while potentially infectious.
Anyone who was in Brisbane Airport between 4pm and 4.30pm on Saturday June 19 must get tested and isolate until they receive further instructions, and the same goes for anyone who was at the Brisbane Portuguese Family Centre from 7pm on the same day.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the flight attendant had been in the community in Brisbane's CBD, but only for a short time.
Victoria recorded no new cases on Sunday, but state Health Minister Martin Foley said his government would raise concerns about the vaccine shortage in the emergency meeting on Monday.
Pictured: Coles supermarket in Wynyard, where a person infected with Covid went on June 17, has also been added to the exposure list
He said he would urge the Commonwealth to treat the vaccine rollout as a 'race'.
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino said the Commonwealth’s vaccine rollout was an 'absolute shambles'.
'We do not have the supply of second doses from the Commonwealth to match the demand for first doses,' he told reporters in Melbourne.
Western Australia Health Minister Roger Cook is equally frustrated by supply limitations.
'But we’re working with what we’ve got and WA has been very successful. We have vaccinated a higher proportion of our population than any mainland state,' he told reporters in Perth.
The shortage is a result of the rare blood clotting disorder associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is no longer recommended for people between 50 and 59, meaning Australia needs more Pfizer jabs.
Pfizer has an agreement to supply 40 million vaccines to Australia in 2021, with two jabs needed to fully vaccinate one person.
Trials are also expected to begin by the end of this year into making Australia's first locally developed vaccine, which would use the same mRNA technology as Moderna and Pfizer - both highly successful jabs.
Businesses on Sydney's burgeoning exposure site list includes 19 retailers in the busy Birkenhead Point Brand Outlet in Drummoyne in the city's west.
Hero Suchi restaurant in the CBD was also added, along with a fitness centre in Castle Hill in the north-west, and a Big W store in Merrylands.
The Bondi cluster has swelled to nine cases with four more in NSW without known sources (pictured, the drive-through testing clinic in Bondi)
Anyone who visited North Face, Country Road or Seed at the Drummoyne outlet centre on Tuesday June 15 between 11.35am and 1pm is considered a close contact.
Close contacts have been told to contact NSW Health immediately, get a Covid test and isolate for 14 days regardless of the results, with experts fearing people may test negative in the early stages of the virus.
Shoppers who has visited any of the other venues on the list are considered casual contacts and must self-isolate until they test negative to coronavirus.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced masks would be required to be worn at most indoor venues across seven local government areas from 4pm on Sunday.
They are Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
'You must wear a mask if you are in and around those seven local government areas,' Ms Berejiklian said.
'That will include things like hospitality workers, shopping, retail shopping, any
