But the prime minister continues to deny the bungled vaccine rollout is responsible for the widespread restrictions.

Just 14 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, with Australia lagging behind most of the world.

But Morrison said countries with much higher vaccination rates were also going back into lockdown as the globe grappled with contagious strains of coronavirus.

He also singled out “gobsmacking” rates of coronavirus in the United Kingdom, where deaths were rising despite widespread vaccinations.

“I understand there is great frustration. Believe me, I feel the same frustration,” he told 5AA radio on Wednesday.

“This latest Delta variant has thrown a completely new curve ball on this issue, which every single country in the world is wrestling with.”

Victoria has recorded 22 new local coronavirus cases on the sixth day of its extended statewide lockdown as Premier Daniel Andrews said the state would not need an extended lockdown like the one currently being experienced in NSW.

Andrews said the state had avoided a “NSW-style, long, lengthy, very challenging lockdown” but authorities needed more time to “extinguish” the outbreak.

“We’re dealing with an outbreak that we think we are running alongside and we just need to get in front of it in order to pull it up,” he said.

He said easing restrictions while new case numbers are in the single digits isn’t an option, due to the speed and ease with which the Delta variant has spread.

Four new tier-two exposure sites were added overnight in Richmond, bringing the total number of sites to more than 350, while more than 18,000 primary close contacts, including two apartment blocks, are self-isolating.

Meanwhile, permits to enter Victoria from a red zone have been suspended for two weeks.

Only authorised workers and those who apply for and receive an exemption are now able to travel between Victoria and NSW, although border bubble arrangements will remain in place.

South Australia was also declared a red zone overnight, as it joined Victoria and Greater Sydney in lockdown.

The federal government has confirmed Victorians impacted by the extended lockdown will be able to claim disaster payments of up to $600 a week from Friday.

A beefed-up support package for lockdown-hit businesses will also be announced by the Victorian government on Wednesday.

The prime minister insisted total urgency was being applied to the vaccine rollout, despite earlier arguing the national program was “not a race”.

Morrison again blamed delays on multiple updates to expert advice on the AstraZeneca jab, describing the ATAGI recommendations as “a big problem”.

But he said the rollout was ramping up significantly, with more supplies and vaccination centres being added.

“We’ve had our problems but we’re getting over them,” the prime minister said.

Coronavirus outbreaks have plunged more than half of Australia into lockdown, sparking calls for more federal support.

The Morrison government is resisting pressure to reinstate JobKeeper wage subsidies with at least 13.5 million people under heavy restrictions across NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

Instead, people who lose work in designated hot spots can access weekly payments of between $375 and $600 when lockdowns extend beyond seven days.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said national wage subsidies, which initially paid out $1500 a fortnight before being scaled back, were proven to work.

“JobKeeper had its problems but it also had very important features which the government has stupidly junked,” he said.

“As time goes on and we have these lockdowns it really does look like an incredibly stupid decision to end JobKeeper and replace it with something inferior.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt said disaster payments were higher than the $1000-a-fortnight rate at which JobKeeper ended.

“The money is actually flowing out the door faster than it would have under JobKeeper,” he said.

In NSW, 388,000 claims worth $186 million have been approved during the outbreak, which has infected 1418 people in the past month.

Victorians will become eligible on Friday when the state’s lockdown enters its second week.

The federal government has also activated income support payments for South Australians hit by restrictions.

Morrison indicated areas in South Australia that were not declared hotspots would still receive support.

The state government is expected to foot the bill for people outside Commonwealth-defined hotspot zones.

South Australia on Tuesday evening joined Victoria – where there were nine new cases – and Sydney and surrounds in lockdown.

NSW recorded 78 new local infections, while SA recorded five.