At the Nelson Bay clinic, where staff have administered in excess of 4000 vaccines for COVID-19, there are no appointments for the Pfizer vaccine for months.

Dr Alex Richardson, GP and Nelson Plaza Clinic director, said that the dedicated staff shared the community's frustrations with the limited numbers of Pfizer vaccines available.

"We wish we could get five times the number of doses," he said.

"In the context of the current outbreak of the Delta strain of COVID-19 and the limited availability of Pfizer vaccine, we are strongly recommending that all adults under 60 consider AstraZeneca vaccination by informing themselves of the risks and benefits.

"Most of our staff have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca, myself included and we have appointments available this week for AstraZeneca vaccine for adults."

At the Raymond Terrace clinic where the number of vaccinations will hit the 20,000 milestone this week, the wait for a Pfizer jab is at least three weeks, says practice co-owner Dr Damian Welbourne.

"There is hot demand for the Pfizer jab and our weekly bookings of around 400 are being booked up in around 20 minutes," he said. "We are trying to prioritise the Phase 1a and 1b eligibility groups so we have about a three week wait. We are hoping to receive more Pfizer vaccinations in the near future."

Dr Welbourne said that staff were administering around 2000 AstraZeneca vaccinations a week and that more and more under 40 year olds were coming forward for the Az.

"People are making their own assessments and coming to the reasonable decision about the importance of jabs in arms regardless of the manufacturer," he said.

"The detection of the virus strain in the sewerage system in Raymond Terrace is a worry and I want to commend those in the local community for doing the right thing. I believe the majority of people are staying at home to stop the virus from spreading. The more people do the right thing the sooner we will come out of this lockdown."

Dr Richardson said that the current lockdown had presented complicated challenges to the Port Stephens community.

"Home-schooling, plans cancelled, isolation, financial uncertainty and job losses are not easy to bear. The government have made it clear the quickest way back to some sort of normality is mass vaccination, which will take time," he said.

"In the meantime, to help manage these challenges you can reach out to friends or family, focus your energy on things that you can control, give yourself some positive feedback or practice gratitude, stay active, go exploring outdoors and try to fuel your body well."

Meanwhile, a number of pharmacies in Port Stephens LGA are now administering AstraZeneca vaccinations. Amcal + Salamander Bay vaccinated more than 80 people when they kicked off vaccinations on Saturday.

"We've been advocating and promoting vaccination for a long time. We submitted an expression of interest to administer the COVID-19 vaccinations 18 months ago and we're proud to be able to finally offer this service," pharmacist Christian Hernandez said.

"We've got a team of pharmacists trained up and ready to go. We're all fully vaccinated, so we're leading by example and ready to start helping our community get vaccinated as well.

"We know that ultimately this is the best thing for this community and we encourage everyone who can to come forward and get the jab."

As the state surpassed 5.2 million vaccinations on Tuesday, NSW Health data showed vaccination rates in the Anna Bay and Salamander Bay postcodes was one of the strongest in the Hunter.

In the 2316 postcode, between 60 and and 69 per cent of population have received a first dose and between 20-29 per cent are fully vaccinated.

The 2317 postcode has posted the same first dose vaccination rates, and 30-39 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.

Book a vaccination appointment via covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility.

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