People dine at a cafe in Melbourne, Australia, following the midnight lifting of coronavirus restrictions in one of the world's most locked-down cities. Photo: AFP

Australia, quickly becoming one of most-vaccinated nations against COVID-19, will likely start administering the shots for children under the age of 12 in January, officials said on Sunday.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said medical regulators are still reviewing the health and safety data for the vaccinations to be administered for children between the ages of 5 and 11 and are unlikely to decide in 2021.

"The expectation that they have set is the first part of January, hopefully early January," Hunt told the Australian Broadcast Corp's Insiders program. "But they're going as quickly as possible."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in November recommended the Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)/BioNTech SE shot for broad use in the 5-11 age group, after it was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.

Army Lieutenant-General John Frewen, Australia's COVID-19 Taskforce commander told The Age newspaper that Australia has secured the necessary supplies. 

On Friday, Australia crossed the 90 percent single-dose mark for those aged 16 and over, with 83 percent having two shots. The country has also vaccinated 57.7 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 15, according to health ministry data.

Australia's high vaccination rates were key to its decision to partially reopen international borders in November for the first time since the start of the pandemic, despite ongoing Delta variant outbreaks in the most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria.

On Sunday, there were 1,100 infections reported in the two states. However, despite the Delta outbreaks that led to months of lockdown in the two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, the national tally is far lower than those of many other developed nations.

Reuters