COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the Hunter's Aboriginal population has grown 10 percentage points in a week.
Government figures show almost two thirds, or 65.6 per cent, of the region's 21,000 Indigenous people aged 15 and over have received both doses. The figure compares to a 75 per cent vaccination rate in the overall population aged 16 and over.
The first-dose vaccination rate for the Indigenous population has risen only marginally, from 79.2 to 82.8 per cent, in the past week.
In the general Hunter population, more than 95 per cent of people aged 16 and over have received at least one dose.
Meanwhile, the Hunter's public health controller fears chains of virus transmission may be going undetected due to a shortfall in testing.
Active cases in the Hunter have slipped below 1000, but authorities in the region say they are concerned after Hunter New England daily case count jumped back up to 74 on Thursday.
Only South Western Sydney's 80 exceeded the Hunter figure, which made up a fifth of the NSW total of 372 local infections.
NSW Health said one more person had died with COVID-19, a man in his 50s from south-east Sydney who had received one dose of vaccine.
Health authorities said 30 of the Hunter cases were infectious in the community and the isolation status of another 30 was unknown.
"With 74 new COVID-19 cases in the Hunter New England area, I think we have every reason to be concerned, particularly if we follow the pattern that we've seen in the last two weeks with a large proportion of the cases actually unlinked," HNEH's Dr David Durrheim said.
"This means that we don't know what their source was, and this really says that there are chains of transmission that are busy circulating in our community and we're not finding them because we're not looking.
"We're not testing enough. We need to test whenever there's symptoms. This is the way that we'll prevent spread in our communities and keep our families, keep our friends, keep vulnerable communities safe."
The health district is treating 23 of its 940 active cases in hospital. Only three require intensive care.
Newcastle LGA had 23 new cases, including three in Elermore Vale, Jesmond, Hamilton and Hamilton South. Two each were found in New Lambton Heights and Wallsend, while Adamstown, Birmingham Gardens, Mayfield West, Merewether, North Lambton, Tarro and The Hill had single cases.
Six cases in Maitland headlined that area's 15 fresh infections, with four in Metford and three in Woodberry.
Lorn and Thornton also added cases.
Lake Macquarie's 12 cases included two in Dudley and Macquarie Hills and cases in Belmont North, Bolton Point, Cardiff South, Gateshead, Pelican, West Wallsend, Windale and Wyee.
Eight of Cessnock's nine cases were in the city itself, with the lone remaining case in Kurri Kurri.
Port Stephens had two cases in Raymond Terrace, one in Williamtown and another in Karuah.
Hawks Nest added a fresh case amid MidCoast's eight, half of which came from Taree. Cundletown, Purfleet and Killabah had the remaining cases.
Tamworth had three cases.
Vaccination clinics continue across the region, spanning from Muswellbrook to Medowie.
Cameron Park will have a clinic at The Canopy, in Pasterfield Community Centre on Horizon Avenue, offering walk-in Pfizer jabs from 10am to 1pm on Tuesday.
Muswellbrook Community Health offers Pfizer from 10am to 3pm from Monday to Thursday, and Cessnock Hospital is open for walk-in jabs on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 1pm for anyone over 12.
Maryland Multipurpose Centre has walk-in Pfizer from 10am to 1pm on Wednesday, while Medowie Public School has walk-in Pfizer appointments on Sunday from 10am to 1pm.
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