The ACT has passed another major vaccine milestone, with 80 per cent of Canberra’s residents over 12 now fully vaccinated.

Chief minister Andrew Barr indicated the vaccine rate could lead to changes to the ACT’s virus road map.

“This triggers the next step in our pathway forward,” Mr Barr said on Twitter.

He said details of the next step would be outlined on Tuesday.

Further easing of COVID restrictions are earmarked for October 29, which would see retail reopen to in-store customers and density limits increase, while ticketed events can have up to 500 people outdoors.

Cinemas, museums and institutions such as the National Gallery would be able to reopen.

There had been some criticism of the ACT’s reopening strategy, with businesses in nearby NSW able to reopen to fully vaccinated customers while stores are closed in Canberra.

The ACT is no longer publicly reporting first-dose figures, with rates now above 99 per cent for people over 12.

Those figures had lead Mr Barr to declare that the ACT was on track to become one of the most vaccinated cities in the world.

It comes as Canberra reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, amid a drop in testing rates.

Of the 17 cases that were reported, 11 of those were linked to known cases or clusters.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 increased to 17, with nine of those in intensive care.

ACT health authorities have urged for testing numbers to increase, with 1578 tests conducted on Sunday.

Monday also saw the return of some school students to the classroom for in-person lessons.

All year 11 and 12 students went back to classes, as part of a staged return to school.

Early childhood, preschool to year two, as well as years six, nine and 10 will go back to the classroom from October 25.

AAP

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