Victoria has recorded the deaths of 20 more people with COVID-19.
The number of people hospitalised after contracting the virus has fallen to 1,029, slightly down from 1,096 reported on Friday.
Of the patients in hospital, 120 are receiving intensive care, including 39 people on ventilators.
There are now at least 217,505 active cases of COVID-19 across the state.
There were officially 16,016 new infections recorded yesterday, continuing a downward trend in daily case numbers. However, the real number of cases in the community could be much higher.
The new cases were detected from 8,432 PCR results and 7,584 at-home rapid antigen tests (RATs).
Health authorities on Friday said it was hoped the state was past the peak of new daily infections, but cautioned that unidentified and asymptomatic cases remained in the community.
Hospitalisation and ICU numbers lag behind daily infections, so the state is tragically likely to experience more deaths and pressure on the healthcare system for weeks and months to come.
On Saturday, COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said it had been "encouraging" to see a stabilisation in the number of people in hospital, and the number of new infections being reported daily.
About 29 per cent of Victorians adults have received three doses of a vaccine, a number which is expected to rise during a "booster blitz" being run at state centres over the weekend.
Hours at major state vaccination hubs have been extended, more walk-up capacity has been created and there were 60,000 more appointments made available for the four-day push.
Mr Weimar said there was "momentum building" with the third-dose rate in both state hubs and the Commonwealth-led GP and pharmacy rollout.
The interval before the booster dose was shortened to three months during the week.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton cautioned that while Omicron was a milder strain than the Delta variant, "it's still killing people, it's still putting people in hospital, including those who have two doses".
Government consulting industry on possible mandated third dose
Hospitality and retail groups have been approached by the Victorian government, which is looking at changing the definition of fully vaccinated to those who have had at least three doses.
Currently, Victorians need to have had at least two doses to access hospitality venues, personal care services and many workplaces.
The Premier flagged earlier this week that a booster dose may become mandatory in order to be considered fully immunised against COVID-19, as was the case in some other countries.
The government has recently announced a paid leave scheme for public sector workers to be vaccinated, and mandated a third dose for some sectors including aged care, health care and food distribution.
A third dose is seen as vital in protecting against the Omicron strain, which unlike earlier variants has infected a large number of double-dosed Australians.
The issue has been discussed by leaders at national cabinet, which Mr Weimar on Saturday said would be the group responsible for agreeing to a three-dose minimum.
But he confirmed the government was in discussions with a range of sectors about the potential of future industry-specific mandates.
The Restaurant and Catering Industry Association's chief executive Wes Lambert said a three-dose mandate for hospitality venues could further hurt businesses already feeling the strain of the Omicron outbreak.
"We were also told that we would begin to live a normal life once we were vaccinated," he said.
Mr Lambert said if a third dose became mandatory, density caps would need to be lifted to allow for the maximum number of patrons to attend in a safe way.
Retired teachers called on, thousands of children yet to be vaccinated
The Victorian government is calling on inactive or retired teachers, education support staff, principals and staff with administrative experience to return to work when the school year begins.
As schools prepare for term 1, plans are being put in place to ensure staff shortages due to COVID-19 don't disrupt student learning.
A school "job opportunity pool" will allow staff to be deployed to schools on a fixed-term basis, to fill any short-term gaps caused by teachers or staff who contract the virus and need to isolate.
Government schools will have access to the pool to assist with their daily operations.
The states and territories agreed to go their own way with school reopening plans after failing to reach a consensus at Thursday's national cabinet meeting.
A large portion of recorded coronavirus outbreaks were linked to schools and childcare settings during the end of 2021.
Teachers are now exempt from close contact quarantine requirements, and it has been confirmed students will not have to isolate for seven days if they are exposed in the classroom.
About 150,000 children aged between five and 11 have been vaccinated since that age group became eligible, with the government aiming to vaccinate 350,000 more children in the coming weeks.
Mr Weimar said there was "momentum building" within that cohort, and that he expected uptake to increase as Victorian parents prepared their children for the upcoming school year.
