NEW CASES: 175 (up from 169 yesterday)

ACTIVE CASES: 840 (down from 888 yesterday)

The number of active COVID cases in Ballarat has fallen for the first time this year.

With the number of new confirmations remaining relatively steady at 175 in the past 24 hours, the amount of active cases has dropped for the first time since December 30.

There are now 840 active cases in Ballarat, down from 888 yesterday.

The number of people in hospital has not been routinely released by Ballarat Health Services.

Of the 175 new cases, there are 97 in the 3350 postcode, 32 in 3352, 26 in 3356, 18 in 3355, 9 in 3351 and 5 in 3357.

In shires surrounding Ballarat there also continues to be further spread: Moorabool (58 new cases/345 active cases), Golden Plains (17 new/44 active), Hepburn (12 new/45 active) and Pyrenees (11 new/22 active).

VICTORIAN COVID UPDATE | Monday, January 10, 2022

NEW CASES: 34,808 (down from 44,155 yesterday)

DEATHS: 2 (down from 4 yesterday)

ACTIVE CASES: 161,065 (up from 146,863 yesterday)

IN HOSPITAL: 818 (up from 752 yesterday)

IN ICU: 118 (up from 104 yesterday)

ON VENTILATOR: 28 (up from 23 yesterday)

The number of Victorians in hospital with COVID continue to rise sharply, with almost 35,000 new cases confirmed on Monday morning.

In total, there were 34,808 new cases confirmed in the 24 hours to midnight on Sunday.

Of these, 17,618 were PCR tests and 17,190 were rapid tests.

There are now 818 people in hospital, a number that has almost doubled in one week. At this time last week, there were 491 people in hospital.

The number of people in ICU and on a ventilator also climbed.

There were two deaths recorded yesterday.

In Ballarat, there were more than 800 known active cases, according to the figures released on Sunday.

Updated figures will be released later today.

The city has averaged 168 cases per day over the last seven days, although updated hospitalisation figures have not been released.

The latest figures come as children aged five and over are now able to get a COVID-19 jab, however, vaccine supply issues may impact the rollout from GPs and pharmacies.

Melbourne practitioner Todd Cameron said GPs were only able to order the vaccines on Friday and could not purchase more than 200 doses, which was only two weeks' supply.

The Hobsons Bay GP said his practice had been swamped with phone calls but he would not open up more vaccine appointments until he has enough stock.

"There is huge demand and not much to deliver at the moment, unfortunately," he told 3AW.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian president Anthony Tassone tweeted that some pharmacies and GPs are yet to receive stock, but are "expected to in coming days".

The head of Australia's vaccine rollout, Lieutenant General John Frewen, denied there were supply problems.

"There are thousands of bookings are ready to go (on Monday) and will happen across the country," he said.

Victoria has doubled the number of state-run vaccination sites available for children aged five to 11, with 36 sites around the state.

COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said state clinics had enough supply and the health department was working closely with GPs and pharmacies.

Acting Premier Jacinta Allan said there were no plans to change the school return date for Victorian students, expected in early February.

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