Communities yet to hit statewide vaccination targets will be left vulnerable if travel soon restarts across NSW, one mayor says.
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The next roadmap rule ease could be triggered as soon as next weekend, but Greater Hume's double-dose coverage remains the lowest in the region at 59.1 per cent.
In contrast, nearby Berrigan Shire achieved above 70 per cent coverage this week, putting the region in line with the statewide statistic.
Mayor Matt Hannan said it gave "a level of assurity" in protection of the community.
"If we get to the 80 per cent in the next week or two in line with NSW, we look forward to people returning to our regions," he said.
"Victoria will only be a couple of weeks behind."
The prospect of travel for tourism restarting has Greater Hume mayor Heather Wilton nervous.
"If we're not near the market as far as vaccinations go, we are more vulnerable," she said.
"Sydney is nearly knocking on the door of 80 (per cent), the next lot of openings will happen and we will be left with our pants down, if we're not careful."
Cr Wilton said "there are plenty of opportunities to be vaccinated in Greater Hume" with a new clinic running on Saturdays in Holbrook.
Regular after-hours vaccination appointments through Albury Wodonga Health are hoped to accelerate coverage for the twin cities, which sits at 61.4 and 63.1 per cent double-dose.
Moderna is new vaccine option for younger people and more than 2300 12-to-15-year-olds have now been vaccinated by AWH.
AWH expects some community residents will opt for Moderna as an alternate vaccination.
"Hub capacity is based on vaccine availability and staffing - this will increase with the availability of Thursday evening bookings, which start this week.
"We hope this will be a well-utilised service by the community, in line with feedback.
"We also offer Saturday appointments, and numbers for these have increased over the past few weeks."
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, in announcing a stock guarantee for goods if a lockdown occurs in December or January, said there was no area of NSW he was concerned about that was at greater risk for a lockdown because of vaccination rates.
"Even though we say as a government, it is our intention we will not go into a statewide lockdown again, there may be a need from time to time for restrictions to be put in place," he said.
Business NSW Regional Manager Anthony McFarlane welcomed the support while hoping it wouldn't be needed.
"Businesses can now plan and order the stock they think they'll need while their business begins to scale up again, with the knowledge the government has a level of protection in place for them," he said.
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For Cr Wilton, her concerns with NSW reopening also involve reports of businesses operating with unvaccinated staff.
"People need to abide by the public heath order, and if they can bring forward their second dose, they should make arrangements to do so," she said.
"I'm wondering if people are just sort of lagging behind because they think, 'We'll be right'.
"The evidence is out there that we're not right yet, we've got to be very careful."
