Australia is forecast to reach 80 per cent double-dose coronavirus vaccination coverage in mid-November when home tests are expected to be in use.
Vaccine rollout co-ordinator John Frewen has revealed the latest government projections for people aged 16 and over.
By the end of October, 70 per cent of that group should have received both doses with the 80 per cent target likely in mid-November.
Lieutenant General Frewen said reaching high levels of coverage would now depend on people coming forward but 90 per cent would be possible in late November or early December.
Almost 77 per cent of over-16s have now received at least a single shot, while 52.6 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Rapid antigen tests are expected to be used in homes from November 1.
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While no company has a kit ready for the Australian market, Therapeutic Goods Administration boss John Skerritt is confident hurdles will be cleared over the next month.
All tests granted approval for home use need to be effective for the Delta variant.
Instructions must be suitable for about a year-seven level of reading or people for whom English is a second language.
Packaging must include a 1800 number to ring for advice on results or other issues with rapid antigen tests.
“We are still confident, because we’ve been holding hands with some of the most advanced companies for a few weeks, that by November 1 there will be products available,” Professor Skerritt told a Senate hearing.
Home rapid antigen tests, which can return results in 20 minutes, have been used overseas for months.
But Australian authorities have been cautious in expanding use beyond selected workplaces because of concerns around accuracy compared to nose and throat swabs.
Qld COVID infections
Meanwhile Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said she was not entirely comfortable with new cases emerging but was watching closely.
The Gold Coast was placed on alert on Wednesday after two men tested positive after being out and about in the community for several days.
The first was a close contact of the aviation training centre worker who tested positive on Monday night.
The man, who lives in the Gold Coast suburb of Biggera Waters, was trained by the infected worker.
The second case won’t be counted in Queensland’s tally because it was detected in NSW. It involves a truck driver who lives at Gaven on the Gold Coast, and who regularly travels between Queensland and NSW.
He was active on the Gold Coast for three days, from September 25 to 27, including in Mermaid Waters, Merrimac, Nerang, Surfers Paradise, Miami Beach and Currumbin.
Dr Young said there was still no need for a lockdown but that could change if there was any sign of significant community spread, or if unlinked cases surfaced.
The southeast corner is currently dealing with two separate clusters that are not linked to any previous infections the state has seen.
One is centred on the aviation training centre worker. His wife has also tested positive.
The other is centred on a truck driver who lives in Sydney, and arrived in Queensland on September 16.
He stayed at two Spring Hill hotels and a hostel at South Brisbane before testing positive.
His contacts have been put into hotel quarantine and so far they have all tested negative, Dr Young said.
Dr Young is confident the Sydney truck driver picked up his infection in NSW.
Mandatory mask wearing rules in place for Brisbane and the Moreton Bay council areas have now been extended to the Gold Coast in response to the new infections there, as have visits to vulnerable facilities including aged-care homes and jails.
