Called Vax-The-Nation, the campaign began with cartoonist David Pope's eye-catching illustration of a tattooed koala flexing its vaccinated arm splashed across the front pages of ACM's 14 daily newspapers.

Since then papers have been charting each day the latest vaccination rates in their state or territory and across the nation - as a way to remind readers of the need to get vaccinated to protect their community.

In August Australians had received 12 million COVID-19 doses. By December more than 39 million doses have been administered, with 87 per cent of us double-dosed.

As the end of the year looms, attention is now turning to the COVID-19 booster program - the next step in Australia's recovery.

Here's what you need to know about the progress made throughout Australia's vaccine rollout, and what comes next.

Federal government data as at December 1 shows that more than 87 per cent of Australians aged over 16 have received two doses of a vaccine.

The ACT is the most vaccinated jurisdiction in Australia, with more than 95 per cent of its eligible population fully vaccinated.

NSW has surpassed 92 per cent double dose of over 16s, while 91 per cent of Victorians are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, states which have not experienced high community transmission of the Delta variant are moving towards the thresholds of 80-90 per cent.

Tasmania has reached more than 87 per cent fully vaccinated, followed by South Australia at 81 per cent, while Queensland and the Northern Territory both sit at more than 77 per cent, and Western Australia is more than 76 per cent vaccinated.

The nation now stands a few percentage points away from the 90 per cent double dose threshold, but it has been a long and winding road to achieve this result.

There have been 2011 deaths recorded across the country, federal government data from December 2 reports, while 211,654 cases have been recorded over the duration of the pandemic.

Businesses continue to struggle with the economic impacts of shut-downs, resulting in loss of income and staff. Meanwhile, the pandemic has disproportionately affected vulnerable communities and exacerbated disadvantages.

On June 26, a city-wide lockdown was announced in Sydney in an effort to contain the spread of the Delta variant.

Initially announced for a period of two weeks, the city didn't open back up until October, with the virus spreading into the rest of the state.

After a slew of lockdowns, Melbourne too imposed restrictions on August 5 that lasted until October 21, while the ACT locked down on August 12 and didn't reopen until October 15.

State and territory border closures began to ease in November as the ACT, Victoria and NSW enabled ease of travel for fully vaccinated travellers.

Meantime, states that did not experience prolonged lockdowns, such as Queensland and Western Australia, are still moving towards opening up.

Collective groans were registered around the country as the World Health Organisation declared a strain of the coronavirus emerging in South Africa as a "variant of concern".

Experts are still scrambling to understand the Omicron variant, and will analyse data on its infectiousness, severity and interaction with COVID-19 vaccines in the next few weeks. Vaccines will prove key in determining the subsequent public health response of jurisdictions around Australia and internationally.

"If we get a sense of how effective our vaccines are against Omicron that looks good, then even if it does start to circulate in the community like Delta, it shouldn't affect what we are doing too much," infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University Sanjaya Senanayake said this week. "But there are still a lot of ifs there."

On Monday, the federal government delayed the reopening of the border to skilled workers, international students and other visa holders until December 15.

"The temporary pause will ensure Australia can gather the information we need to better understand the Omicron variant, including the efficacy of the vaccine, the range of illness, including if it may generate more mild symptoms, and the level of transmission," a statement from Prime Minister Scott Morrison's office said late on Monday.

As Australia's vaccination rate inches towards 90 per cent, focus has turned to booster shots as the nation shifts to accepting community transmission of COVID-19.

Booster doses were approved for eligible Australians from November 8, scheduled for six months after a person's second dose.

So far, Pfizer is the only vaccine being administered for boosters in Australia, with Australians immunised with other brands also able to receive the top-up.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Monday said a shorter interval being second and booster doses would be considered, as Australia reacted to news of the Omicron variant. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is reviewing the time frame.

Vaccinations have played a key role in driving down cases of COVID-19 and allowing the hardest hit states and territories to ease restrictions.

Happily, in the ACT, NSW and Victoria, our vaccinations rates have reached a point where there is little to no daily change in vaccination rates, while the national figure is moved only by the rate of vaccination in other states.

So, as Australia enters its next phase of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, ACM will move with it. Rather than running daily graphics displaying first and second dose rates, our newspapers will now shift their focus to the distribution of boosters.