Australia will invite pharmacies this week to join a government-funded rollout of Covid-19 vaccine, the federal government has said, as the country approached 14 consecutive days without a locally acquired case.

The government will ask the country's roughly 5,800 community pharmacies to apply for the programme, which would pay them to administer inoculations, along with doctors and hospital health workers, according to Reuters.

“That means more points of presence for Australians in terms of where they can receive their Covid-19 vaccine,” Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters.

“This is potentially life-saving medication. The medicines can work with differing degrees of effectiveness, but all up, this can improve lives, extend lives, or save lives.”