AUSTRALIANS could begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations next month, after prime minister, Scott Morrison revealed on Thursday the vaccine roll out had been brought forward to February.

Mr Morrison said the government aimed to begin vaccinating high-risk sections of the community in “mid to late February” and to have four million Australians vaccinated by the end of March.

“We anticipate, optimistically, that we would hope to start the vaccination with 80,000 people a week,” he said.

“This will of course remain conditional on a number of important factors, most importantly that final (safety) approval and the delivery of the vaccine from our suppliers.”

The government expected the Pfizer vaccine, which was given emergency approval for use in the United States and United Kingdom late last year, would receive approval from the Therapeutical Goods Administration (TGA) by the end of the month.

The government has already secured 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

The announcement came just days after health minister, Greg Hunt said the vaccine roll out had been brought forward from late March to early March.

The had been calls from the opposition to fast-track the approval process and begin the vaccine rollout as soon as possible.

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