Holidays hang the balance as Dominic Perrottet mulls DELAYING a critical new freedom due to lagging vaccination rates after lockdown

• Freedom of travel is supposed to kick in when Covid jab rates reach 80% 
• But with that figure likely to be reached this weekend holidays may be delayed 
• That's because vaccinations in many popular holiday destinations  are lagging 

Sydneysiders desperate to leave the city after four months of lockdown may have their holidays delayed due to lower vaccination rates in regional NSW.

The Government's roadmap to freedom says regional travel can restart the Monday after the state hits the 80 per cent vaccination threshold.

Due to fast vaccine take-up this threshold is likely to be reached this weekend, triggering the next batch of freedoms a week earlier than expected.

But Premier Dominic Perrottet said holidays may have to be pushed back to allow regional areas more time to get their vaccination rates up as high as Sydney.

'There have been issues raised. We haven't made any decisions yet. We don't make decisions in a knee-jerk reaction,' he told reporters on Wednesday.

'We make decisions in consultation with our health and economic teams as part of that sub-committee. That meeting is tomorrow.'

Mr Perrottet said the Government will tell residents on Friday when regional travel will be allowed amid speculation it will be pushed back until October 25. 

'We will consider those issues tomorrow in relation to the road map. It has come up because of the significant increase in the vaccination rate and that is a great thing,' he said.

'We want to open up as quickly and safely as possible. That is exactly what we are doing. We have that meeting tomorrow. We'll have those discussions and we look forward to seeing you on Friday.' 

Deputy Premier Paul Toole hinted that regional holidays would be delayed.

'We spoke about regional travel a week ago and we said we are several weeks away from people travelling into the regions,' he said.

'People have already got their cars packed. They want to as soon as they can get out into regional NSW. 

'But we also need to make sure that when it is discussed tomorrow we are protecting regional NSW. We need to make sure that regional NSW is safe.'    

At the forefront of concerns are popular travel destinations like Byron Bay and the Hunter Valley vineyards where jab rates are lagging.

While NSW has achieved 75 per cent coverage, the Byron Shire in Northern NSW sits at just 47 per cent.

In the town of Cessnock - gateway to the Hunter Valley's stunning wine region - just 58.4 per cent of residents aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated.   

Coffs Harbour and Kempsey on the north and mid-north coast are also at 58 per cent, while Inverell in the Northern Tablelands and Junee in the Riverina have only managed 57 per cent coverage.  

But while holidays may be off the agenda for now, a raft of new freedoms are set to introduced very soon.

The state's double-dose vaccination rate jumped by 1.26 per cent overnight to 75.23 per cent.

The increase means the state will likely hit the 80 per cent full vaccination rate before Sunday - triggering the next round of restriction easing a week early that scheduled. 

NSW's roadmap out of lockdown allows up to 20 fully-vaccinated residents to gather in homes and participate in community sport at an 80 per cent double-jab rate.

Up to 3,000 spectators will also be allowed to gather for ticketed outdoor events and nightclubs can re-open without dancing.