Hunter residents are being urged to try getting booster shots at the Belmont mass vaccination hub to ease the pressure on local GPs and pharmacies, as almost 1,000 new cases are detected in the region.
It comes as New South Wales set another record for daily COVID-19 infections with 5,715 cases and 976 of those in the Hunter New England (HNE) Health district.
Chemists in the region are dealing with high demand for third doses after the government shortened the recommended wait period between second and third jabs to five months.
The secretary of the Hunter GP Association, Lee Fong, said medical clinics were also struggling to get enough booster shots for the community.
"When you have a shift in the immunisation program … it's a sudden thing. There's going to be a lag time before there's availability," Dr Fong said.
He recommended people eligible for a booster consider going to the mass vaccination hub at Belmont.
"There's alternatives for some people who are due and are having trouble getting supply from their GP and pharmacies," Dr Fong said.
'De-isolation certificates' for COVID-positive people
Dr Fong is concerned too many people are going to medical centres to seek clearance to go back out in the community after catching COVID-19.
It has been more than two weeks since an Omicron superspreader event was held at Argyle House nightclub, and many of the patrons who caught the virus will be finishing their recovery.
NSW Health said cases that were deemed low-risk would receive an SMS message 10 days after their diagnosis to advise that they could cease isolation as long as they had not had any symptoms for 72 hours.
"The de-isolation date is after 10 days has passed," Dr Fong said.
"There's that little nuance there. I think some people are thinking their date of de-isolation is 24 hours earlier than it is.
"So for some people it means just waiting that extra 24-hour period and they get their de-isolation certificate."
