Health advice was issued on Friday to general practices who are part of the federal roll out of the AstraZeneca vaccine, after it was revealed there had been an extremely rare blood clot side effect linked to the vaccine's use on younger people.

Northwest Health has been jabbing locals for close to three weeks, but GP Dr Ian Kammerman said the clinic had opted to cancel all appointments for people younger than 50 years old.

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"We wouldn't vaccinate anyone under 50 at this stage, the one exception would be if you had already had an AstraZeneca vaccine and hadn't had a problem," he told the Leader.

Dr Kammerman said there was no need for the community to panic despite the new information.

"The risk of running into problems after having the first dose of AstraZeneca is infinitesimally small," he said. "Does this mean one vaccine is better than the other? Probably not, it means one might be better suited for older people and one for younger."

The Primary Health Network recommended practices "may want to" contact patients under 50 who were booked in to receive their first dose of the AstraZeneca jab, and to cancel when "the benefit clearly does not outweigh the risk".

Northwest Health has been allocated between 400 and 500 doses per week to help immunise the community against COVID-19, under Phase 1b of the roll out.

Appointments will continue for those 50 years and older.

"We're still expecting it to be a big uptake, it's really important that as many people as possible get vaccinated," Dr Kammerman said.

He said there had been a large amount of younger people being vaccinated at GP clinics as part of Phase 1b in Tamworth, including the city's essential abattoir workers.

For now, there's "no clear path" for younger people.

"It will be resolved and I do have very much confidence over that," Dr Kammerman said. "I presume in the fullness of time we will get access to the Pfizer or Novovax vaccine."

Other local doctors surgeries approved to give the jab may have taken a different approach.

The Tamworth hospital clinic vaccinatng frontline healthcare workers stopped for some time on Friday while consent forms were updated.

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