Daily infection numbers continue to rise with Ballarat recording one of its highest case tallies, 14 new cases, in the 24 hours to Friday.

A further six Omicron cases were declared in Victoria on Friday, taking the state's tally of the new COVID-19 variant to 19. Most have arrived from persons infected in New South Wales, where cases are surging.

This comes amid an expected change in booster intervals from the state government, tipped to once again shorten the gap before Christmas from the time of full vaccination. The approved interval stands at five months from a person's second dose, following a revision last weekend.

Pressure is already rising on on primary health care providers while they wind down to Christmas.

The Courier understands many community pharmacies and general practitioners in Ballarat were at capacity with bookings and many were stopping walk-ins.

Almost 500,000 Victorians are overdue for a vaccine booster, out of more than 750,000 who have reached eligibility five months after their second dose.

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The state government on Friday announced it would ramping up capacity at state-run jab clinics and planning to keep major hubs opens to "help turbo-charge" the vaccine booster roll-out.

Ballarat Health Services has confirmed a strong booster supply and urged anyone having difficulty in making a booster booking to walk up to the community vaccination hub at The Mercure.

But this mass jab clinic is also set to close from Christmas Eve, on Friday, until January 4. Anyone seeking a booster in this period is encouraged to try a pharmacy or GP clinic.

The UFS Commonwealth-funded vaccination clinic will be closed on the Christmas Day and Boxing Day public holidays, re-opening on Wednesday. Jabs will also halt on New Year's Day but start with limited hours on the first Sunday and Monday of the New Year.

UFS chief pharmacist Peter Fell flagged to The Courier this week the vaccine supply chain, with a two-week turnaround, was struggling to keep up with sudden rises in community demand for boosters.

Mr Fell said workforce capacity was a key issue for UFS, without additional staff to access. He was also concerned about the potential for greater COVID-19 spread among the unvaccinated.

"I think the biggest concern is the removal of constraints around unvaxed people having sort of free access within the community because they are much higher at risk in terms of both contracting and spreading the virus," Mr Fell said.

"The hospital and ED [emergency department] resources in Australia - that risk is going to come from those unvaxed people."

Emergency department doctor Mark Harris, also a City of Ballarat councillor, said the Omicron variant had "no modern equal" and that booster doses were vital to guard against the new strain.

"There is little doubt that the new variant will travel even more quickly than before, effect more households, more businesses and stretch hospital acute services," Dr Harris said. "...Unfortunately our resolve can't waive now as much as fatigue with restrictions dominates our thoughts."

COVID-19 testing will remain a pivotal tool in community protection against the virus during the holidays.

BHS' testing site on Creswick Road will be open on Christmas morning, 9am to noon, and operate with normal hours on all other public holidays.

Redan's drive-through testing, run by 4Cyte Pathology, will also remain open for screening, with limited hours on Christmas and New Year's days. Asymptomatic testing for travel is available.

Victorian testers processed 82,301 results on Thursday, while 11,888 people were vaccinated in state-run hubs.

There were 386 patients in hospital, including 82 in intensive care and 43 on ventilators.

The seven-day hospitalisation average had risen by 10 to 356.

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