As part of phase 2a the National Cabinet has decided to use Victoria's pharmacy network to deliver the vaccine to rural and regional communities.

PharmaSave Ararat pharmacist Jason Hosemans said the pharmacy was waiting for the federal government to move forward with the plan.

"They are a bit hard to get a hold of at the moment. But we are going full steam ahead with the flu vaccines at the moment. That is obviously another risk factor going into winter," he said.

Mr Hoseman said the pharmacy had the capacity to administer flu shots - which meant they could eventually administer the AstraZeneca vaccine - but do not have the capacity to administer Pfizer.

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"It will be interesting to see - a lot of the more vulnerable and frontline health workers are pretty much organised. We are happy to help out where was can," he said.

Phase 2a of the vaccine program will target priority groups left out of the first phase of the rollout.

Groups include; adults aged between 20-69, Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders between 18-54 years, and other critical and high-risk workers.

The final locations are still to be approved by the Department of Health, who have liaised with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia national President Trent Twomey said the decision to use pharmacies would increase the total uptake of the vaccine in rural and regional communities.

"For Australians living in regional communities and the outback, 65 per cent of people are within 2.5 km of a pharmacy," he said.

"For those whose home is a plane flight to the nearest hospital, for those living in small rural towns and in remote communities, the answer for State and Territory governments to keep people healthy is the network of local community pharmacies right across the country.

"Using these pharmacies will help to ensure that communities in these areas are not disadvantaged by any focus on mass vaccination sites in metropolitan areas."

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