Melbourne will not be plunged into a fifth lockdown today, however restrictions have been tightened after the city recorded 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.

Among the infected people are three teachers at two separate schools, including one who caught the virus from an infected friend at an AFL game at the MCG on Saturday – one of the 31 new exposure sites. Another person caught the virus from the infected family of four who recently returned from Sydney.

Masks indoors have been compulsory from midnight Wednesday as officials try to stem two outbreaks of the Delta variant of the virus after two Sydney removalists passed through the state.

A 15-person limit has been set for indoors and this is expected to be lowered.

In Sydney, NSW Premeir Gladys Berejiklian announced 65 new local cases, a decline from the previous days. Of these, at least 35 people were out in the community for part or all of their infectious period.

“I am anticipating tomorrow the case numbers to be higher, perhaps much higher than what we have seen today,” she said.

“Whilst the case numbers are bouncing around, we are seeing a stabilisation … they are not growing exponentially,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters.

“That tells us that the settings that we have in place are having an impact. My strongest message to everybody is keep doing what you are doing.”

READ MORE: Australia on track to offer every eligible person a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021

Vaccination not easy in NSW

Five million NSW residents will endure at least another fortnight of lockdown and many are rushing to be vaccinated, however waiting times are long.

Voula Sourlango, 76, told Neos Kosmos that she was told the nearest time for a vaccine was 22 September.

“I know many, like myself, who can’t get a date. I went to San Souci Medical Centre and to the pharmacy where they had a doctor who vaccinated people and they told me that they no longer have that facility, whereas at San Souci Medical Centre they said to schedule an appointment for 22 September,” she said, adding that she may try Homebush though the distance will be difficult for her to get to.

Writer/director Billy Cotsos managed to get vaccinated with Pfizer this week at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. “Aside from feeling like the huge, slow lineup is reminiscent of one of our old MUGA parties when people lined up for two hours to get in, it’s good to be injected, not rejected,” he said.

“True to form, social distancing was significantly less than it should be, worryingly enough. For many of the staff running this hub today, please learn what customer service manners means. It was missing today compared to last time and u had many people irate at behaviour that was too abrupt. Many people are still uncertain about the vaccine, at least make these hours waiting reasonably pleasant and professional. I will be providing my feedback to RPA as I did to one of the managers on-site.”

He told Neos Kosmos that it took him 90 minutes to navigate the site when he made his booking in June as it did not give him options to get the jab at different locations. “Dates have to correlate correctly and to their needs not yours, so if the second date isn’t lined up properly, you have to keep searching. Many of my friends had issues,” he said.

READ MORE: Melbourne’s Lockdown 5.0 from midnight tonight

“Twice I called their helpline before Pfizer was available to 40s online. Waiting times were 40 to 50 minutes. (Australia’s Prime Minister Scott) Morrison has proven that he and his logistics team are not to up to the standard we deserve in Australia. If he spent less time smirking and travelling during National emergencies, we may have been at a better place. Not forcing him and ten of his entourage to quarantine in a hotel like everyone else is poor form. Btw I have written to authorities demanding every Aussie with a passport receive a partial refund for non use and for those about to renew. At some stage we need to learn to live with this virus, when we are vaccinated. Which I now am. The towards zero policy and hermit kingdoms of our borders is not health especially for a multicultural nation. The travel and associated industries have been decimated. We need to do more for them. When planes fly again in abundance we also risk flight crews being rusty and planes that have been idle.”

People wait to get vaccinated at the RPA. Photo: Billy Cotsis