Australian and French athletes destined for the Tokyo Olympic Games will be prioritised for vaccination.
The Australian National cabinet on Tuesday agreed about 2,050 athletes and support staff would be vaccinated under priority group 1b, which includes health care workers, Indigenous Australians aged over 55 and elderly people over 70.
The French Ministry also confirmed on Tuesday that French Olympic athletes would be given the COVID-19 vaccine six weeks before slots are allocated to members of the public under 50.
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Richard Colbeck said the measure would not come at the cost of vulnerable Australians.
"While vulnerable Australians remain an absolute priority as the vaccine rollout continues, National Cabinet understands the pressure our high-performance athletes have been facing as the Tokyo Games draw closer," Colbeck said in a statement.
"We want to see our athletes head to Tokyo to compete and then return to Australia safely," Health Minister Greg Hunt added.
Some 1,969,337 vaccine doses have been administered in Australia, 205,203 of which were doled out in aged and disability care facilities.
Members of the team aged over 50 will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, while those under 50 will be jabbed with Pfizer.
The French ministry said vaccinations would start this week and run until the end of May.
"The athletes and coaches who will represent France in Tokyo this summer will have the opportunity to be vaccinated," the ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
"This restricted population of up to 1,400 people, made up of athletes and managers, has been identified by the Ministry of Sports in conjunction with the Olympic and Paralympic Committees and the National Sports Agency."
The Tokyo Olympics will run from July 23 to Aug. 8, after they were postponed in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Athletes headed to the Paralympic Games, which will run from Aug. 24 to September 5, will also be jabbed early.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.