Across NSW, more than 95 per cent of people aged 16 and over have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 94.5 per cent have received two doses to Wednesday 23 March 2022.

• Of children aged 12 to 15, 83.5 per cent have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 79.3 per cent have received two doses.
• Of children aged 5 to 11, 49 per cent have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 20.4 per cent have received two doses.
• Of people aged 16 plus, 59 per cent have now received a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This represents 62.9 per cent of the eligible population that received their second dose more than three months ago.

The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 17,366,958, with 4,993,840 doses administered by NSW Health to 8pm last night and 12,373,118 administered by the GP network, pharmacies and other providers to 11.59pm on Wednesday 23 March 2022.

NSW Health encourages everyone who is eligible to receive a vaccination or their booster dose to book into a NSW Health vaccination clinic or another provider without delay through the COVID-19 vaccine clinic finder.

Sadly, NSW Health is today reporting the deaths of seven people with COVID-19 – four men and three women.

One person was in their 50s, three people were in their 70s, two people were in their 90s and one person was over 100 years old. Older age is a significant risk factor for serious illness and death for COVID-19, particularly when combined with significant underlying health conditions.

Of those who died over the age of 65, three people had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, two people had received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and one person was unvaccinated.

The man in his 50s who died was unvaccinated and had no known underlying health conditions.

Three people were from south western Sydney, one person was from Sydney's inner city, one person was from southern Sydney, one person was from the Southern Highlands and one person was from the Central Coast.

NSW Health expresses its sincere condolences to their loved ones.

This brings the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 2,051.

There are currently 1,182 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, including 43 people in intensive care, 15 of whom require ventilation.

There were 23,702 positive test results notified in the 24 hours to 4pm yesterday – including 13,514 positive rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 10,188 positive PCR tests. The 10,188 positive PCR results were returned from a total of 56,744 PCR tests.

There has now been a total of 619,298 positive RATs recorded since reporting began on 13 January 2022.

Following further investigation, 76 COVID-19 cases detected by PCR tests have been excluded and 1,045 cases previously reported as RAT-positive have been confirmed as PCR-positive cases, bringing the total number of cases detected by PCR tests in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,076,110.

With cases and hospitalisations continuing their increase on a week-to-week basis, we urge people to take particular care to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Everyone is urged to take simple precautions to protect each other, such as:

• use a mask in indoor settings where you cannot maintain a safe physical distance from others, and
• get your booster vaccine
• get a test and isolate immediately if you have any COVID symptoms,
• clean your hands regularly.

Cases confirmed by PCR test and registered as RAT positive in the 24 hours to 4pm 24 March 2022, by Local Health District:

COVID-19 vaccination update

*to 11:59pm 23 March 2022

*notified from 8pm 23 March to 8pm 24 March 2022.