Wagga Covid: Doctor Ayman Shenouda believes residents keen to get coronavirus vaccine

Glenrock Country Practice GP Ayman Shenouda said research indicated about three quarters of the Australian population would get the COVID-19 jab.

He believes vaccination rates in Wagga will follow a similar trend.

"I think we need to start this talk now. As a GP I've been approached by a lot of patients asking about the vaccine," he said.

Associate Professor Shenouda, a past president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, plans for his practice to distribute the vaccine.

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He said the vaccine would be the "first defence" in preventing people from falling seriously ill but wouldn't stop people from contracting the disease.

GPs will join the mass immunisation from "stage 1b" where the vaccine will be offered to people aged over 70s, adults with underlying health conditions and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults.

The rest of the population will then be offered the vaccine in a staggered rollout that Associate Professor Shenouda said was "logistically, a complicated task".

"The important thing is that we have to follow some rules and make sure it's done in a quality way, that patients have consented and know what the vaccine is about," he said.

"I think general practice is the best place to do this because general practice is very [familiar] with immunisations."

Speaking to media about the vaccine in January, Australia's chief medical officer Paul Kelly said "people should be confident about safety being our first priority, and efficacy being the second".

"And we're working through all of the other issues around training our workforce, getting the logistics right, making sure the information is collected about who has had which vaccine when and where, as well as any side effects that may happen as we roll the vaccine out," he said.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in Australia, which will be given to designated groups including frontline health workers and aged care residents from later this month.

The rest of the population will be offered one of three other candidates, with the AstraZeneca vaccine emerging as a frontrunner ahead of a rollout planned for March.

Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network chief executive officer Melissa Neal encouraged residents to seek advice from their usual doctor with any concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We are aware that there will be a vaccine directory available for people to search for their nearest location for where they can receive a COVID-19 vaccine," she said.

"There is currently an expression of interest open for COVID-19 vaccine administration by general practice, and there has been a strong interest from GPs across the Murrumbidgee region in being involved in administering the vaccine."