Victorian chemists where you can get the Covid-19 vaccine have been expanded

Victorians are being urged to get vaccinated at pharmacies with 500 now offering the jab. Search for one near you.

Victorians are being urged to book a Covid-19 jab at their nearest pharmacy with thousands of appointments now available next week across Melbourne.

A new advertising campaign spruiking the pharmacies as another way to get vaccinated is being rolled out across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The blitz comes as the number of pharmacies offering AstraZeneca vaccines across the state is set to grow from seven to 490 stores from Monday.

More than 2500 pharmacies nationwide are due to come online by the end of next week.

Victorian pharmacies will be entitled to a weekly allocation of 150 doses.

State Pharmacy Guild president Anthony Tassone said pharmacies would aid the mammoth task of getting people vaccinated because they were convenient, accessible and trusted.

“Many people want to get vaccinated, they are just not sure how and they are not sure what is available to them,” he said.

“What we are seeing in the pharmacy is more vaccine frustration than there is hesitancy.”

Mr Tassone also welcomed the advice that the benefits of AstraZeneca were greater than the risks of rare blood clots for younger Australians, adding it would help people make informed decisions about what was best for them.

It comes as it can be revealed that Australian Defence Force personnel who do not vaccinate against Covid will be barred from certain duties.

Although the jab will not be made compulsory, soldiers, sailors and aircrews have been advised their “fighting capability” would be compromised if they did not vaccinate against the virus, in the same way they do other viruses, such as measles and the flu.

Defence has told personnel no one will be jabbed “against their will or without their consent” but those who did not get the vaccine would be restricted from going on certain deployments overseas or in the community.

The government’s new TV advertisement features Australians of different ethnicities waiting in a pharmacy.

“This gives you, your family and your loved ones more opportunity to get vaccinated,” the voice-over states.