A fresh advertising blitz will be rolled out in an effort to increase Australia's uptake for COVID-19 vaccines.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the campaign would target the six million Australians who have yet to get their third vaccine dose to be fully protected against the virus during the winter period.
The ad campaign will also focus on the Indigenous community as well as parents, encouraging them to get their children aged five to 11 vaccinated.
The advertising will be rolled out nationwide from Thursday, and the message targeting parents will begin next week.
Mr Butler said it was critical for as many people to get their booster dose as soon as possible.
"If you have only had two doses of the vaccine, you are not fully protected," Mr Butler told reporters in Canberra.
"We're still seeing an enormous loss of life, enormous dislocation and massive pressure on our health and our hospital systems, and on top of that, influenza has returned to the country as well."
While the health minister said Australia was through the worst of the pandemic, there was still a large number of cases across the country, with more than 3000 patients in hospital with COVID-19 and about 300 deaths from the virus each week.
The vaccination rate among five- to 11-year-olds is about 40 per cent for two doses, compared with about 80 per cent for 12- to 15-year-olds.
Mr Butler said the new campaign was crucial for vaccine uptake among the Indigenous population, given the Indigenous rate was up to 20 per cent lower than the general population.
"I fear that gap is substantially higher for a third or booster dose, so there is a targeted campaign focused on First Nations communities that will promote the importance of booster doses," he said.
The health minister also stressed the need for the fourth dose rate to increase among those in aged care, with just 54 per cent of residents in the sector having had their second booster.
"We have to do better, we have to get that rate up and protect the most vulnerable Australians that we have in this community," he said.
"We are seeing dozens of older Australians, who worked hard, paid their taxes, raise their families and who are dying in large numbers of this disease still every week."
It comes as experts say more COVID variants are likely to emerge in Australia.
However, the University of Sydney's Dr Megan Steain said it does not need to be cause for concern.
"What that variant will look like is almost impossible to predict," she told AAP.
"It could be a further descendant of Omicron but it could also be something that looks closer to Delta or one of the earliest strains.
"But we've got a lot more resources now to handle this virus. Rather than the stricter measures, we need to use booster doses, particularly in vulnerable populations, as well as antivirals."
LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA:
NSW: 9472 cases, 26 deaths, 1499 in hospital with 51 in ICU
Victoria: 7769 cases, 24 deaths, 402 in hospital with 29 in ICU
Queensland: 4802 cases, six deaths, 497 in hospital with seven in ICU
Tasmania: 1157 cases, one death, 45 in hospital with three in ICU
NT: 248 cases, no deaths, 12 in hospital with one in ICU
WA: 5770 cases, two deaths, 259 in hospital with nine in ICU
SA: 2686 cases, four deaths, 223 in hospital with seven in ICU
ACT: 1085 cases, no deaths, 85 in hospital with one in ICU
