Australians under the age of 40 could be eligible to receive their first COVID-19 vaccines within months, the Federal Health Minister has said.

Minister Greg Hunt told Scott Emerson national vaccine rates have grown faster than authorities expected, and that should mean younger Australians can begin getting jabs by September.

“Over the course of the next two months we’ll be able to open up to the under 40s, and then others below that, and keep urging people to come forward,” Mr Hunt said.

The Health Minister also confirmed that his department is expecting that every Australian adult should have received at least their first vaccine dose by the end of 2021.

“We’re now more confident of that than ever and these rates at the moment are higher than we were expecting in the middle of the year in terms of vaccinations.”

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