Victoria has recorded 45 new local coronavirus cases, as the government's vaccine website crashed while thousands of newly-eligible young people tried to secure a booking for a Pfizer shot.
Of the 45 new local cases, 36 have been linked to current outbreaks. Only 17 cases were in quarantine throughout their infectious period.
The new caseload came from 53,321 tests, and brings the total number of active cases in Victoria to 538.
Pfizer eligibility expanded on Wednesday morning to people aged 16 to 39 across Victoria's 55 vaccination hubs, which was made possible after Poland donated 175,000 extra doses.
Within minutes of bookings opening online, however, the website appeared to crash.
Many young people reported receiving a "500 internal server error" after waiting in the queue to book their appointment, while others were told they were ineligible for the vaccine.
Some who phoned the state's coronavirus hotline also reported being unable to schedule an appointment.
More than 830,000 vaccine bookings will be made available over the next four weeks, including 450,000 first-dose Pfizer appointments.
Those aged 18 to 39 who have already made a first dose AstraZeneca appointment will be given the option to instead receive the Pfizer jab, while 16- to 17-year-olds will strictly receive the latter.
Victoria administered 31,629 vaccines on Tuesday.
A full list of exposure sites is available here.
Meanwhile, Victoria will push for all Year 12 students to be vaccinated by the time they start sitting their exams in October.
"The priority for us is to make sure that all final-year students have received their vaccination before they start sitting their exams on October 4," Education Minister James Merlino told reporters.
"So there'll be very strong communication to all students and staff across all our schools in Victoria, but a particular message to our Year 12 students, but also VCE staff and staff who will be supervising the VCE exams, we also want them to get vaccinated. So, please get vaccinated as soon as you're able."
Mr Merlino said the state remained hopeful children aged 12 and up could get their first dose of a vaccine by the end of the year, dependent on the health advice.
Victoria to fly in medical staff from overseas
It's not just the state's vaccine booking system facing pressure. With hundreds of staff being furloughed due to coronavirus exposure, the state is importing 350 doctors and nurses from overseas.
The state government on Wednesday confirmed the recruitments, with about 90 per cent of the new starts being doctors and the remainder made of specialist nurses and midwives.
The majority will start working by October.
"The pandemic has placed enormous pressure on all parts of our health system including our workforce who are testing, vaccinating, and caring for Victorians in record numbers," a government spokesperson said in a statement.
"Roughly 350 health professionals will take up critical roles in our health system over the next few months, with the first group of arrivals set to work across Melbourne and Bendigo."
The medicos will be employed across 30 public health services.
Hundreds of staff at Royal Melbourne Hospital have been furloughed after a coronavirus-infected patient went to the hospital for surgery but was not tested for the illness.
With AAP.
SBS is providing live translations of daily New South Wales and Victoria COVID-19 press conferences in various languages.Click here for more information.
Victoria records 45 new local coronavirus cases as vaccine booking site crashes - SBS News
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