As many as 4 million Australians are expected to have received COVID-19 vaccines by the end of April, as the federal government is to begin one of the nation’s biggest peacetime logistical operations within days.

More than 142,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in Sydney on Monday, ahead of the national vaccine rollout effort starting next week. About 50,000 doses will go to state governments for vaccination of hotel quarantine staff, frontline health and aged-care workers, and the elderly.