More than one-fifth of Illawarra adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, new figures reveal.
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Data from the federal Department of Health showed 21.3 per cent of people in the Illawarra aged 15 or older were fully vaccinated as of Sunday, August 1.
This is the eighth-highest rate in the state and greater than some parts of metropolitan Sydney, including the Blacktown, city and Parramatta regions.
Almost 43 per cent of Illawarra residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, putting the region in 13th spot by this measure.
The North Sydney and Hornsby area boasts the highest vaccination rate in the state - and the second-highest in the country - with close to 52 per cent of the area's residents aged 15 and over having received at least their first jab.
Almost 27 per cent of people there are fully vaccinated.
In the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven 50.5 per cent of people 15 and older have received a dose of the COVID vaccine, which is the second-highest rate in NSW, and 22 per cent have had both doses.
Meanwhile, Sydney's south west falls at the bottom of the list: only 33.1 per cent of residents have had at least one shot, while the rate of fully vaccinated residents stands at 14.6 per cent.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she wanted to see six million vaccine doses administered in NSW before the end of August.
Some 3.9 million doses have already been provided.
A national cabinet plan revealed last week says restrictions across the country will ease once vaccination rates hit 70 per cent, and at 80 per cent lockdowns will only be necessary in extreme situations.
The Illawarra Shoalhaven's mass vaccination centre in Wollongong's Crown Street Mall, which will administer about 2500 shots each day, six days a week, is due to open soon.
The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District would not confirm a precise opening date for the hub, which will provide the Pfizer vaccine.
When asked why the centre would not administer the AstraZeneca shot, a spokesperson from the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District said it was considering options to deliver this vaccine.
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