Up to 30 Indigenous communities across Australia could receive a rapid surge in coronavirus vaccinations as part of a bid to drive up poor immunisation rates.
The national rollout has been savaged for leaving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people behind.
Just 21.86 per cent of the Indigenous population aged over 16 has been fully vaccinated, while 39 per cent have received their first dose.
In some remote communities rates are as low as seven per cent.
Australia has fully vaccinated 36.43 per cent of the wider population while 60.53 have received one dose.
Vaccine rollout co-ordinator John Frewen will on Friday unveil a plan to accelerate Indigenous vaccinations at a meeting of state and territory leaders.
Lieutenant General Frewen has nominated 10 remote and 20 non-remote communities to be involved but will not reveal their location before showing national cabinet.
"The list at the moment are the communities where there are the greatest gap between the current national first-dose, second-dose vaccination rates," he told a Senate committee.
"But also where there are the greatest number of individuals in those communities as well."
Senior Aboriginal leader Pat Turner and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation's Dawn Spence have worked on the plan.
The proposed surge would involve community leaders and Indigenous ambassadors over the next four weeks.
Lt Gen Frewen said a specific communications strategy would be designed to combat vaccine hesitancy.
He said western NSW - where emergency teams were deployed after an outbreak infected Indigenous people - provided a blueprint.
"We have been making up some very good ground over at least the last month but you can see there is a gap," he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed with Ms Turner that Indigenous vaccination rates needed to be as high as possible.
But he doesn't believe lower coverage should "disable" Australia from easing restrictions when 70 and 80 per cent of the wider population are vaccinated.
Mr Morrison said there were no simple solutions.
"In Indigenous communities, it's really tough but we're committed to achieving it."
Critics have blasted the federal government for failing to ensure Indigenous vaccination rates were higher despite being in a high priority phase of the six-month-old rollout.
Labor's Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Linda Burney said the plan to ramp up efforts in 30 communities was too little, too late.
"This is an admission the government completely stuffed up the First Nations vaccine rollout - a group they said would be a priority - and who are now lagging behind," she said.
Ms Burney believes hesitancy is not an excuse for the federal government.
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said some communities had experienced incredible mistrust of vaccines because of dangerous conspiracies and misinformation.
"All those things are playing out in the most remote communities and it's a tragedy," he said.
