AUSSIES have hit out at an "offensive" Covid ad that shows a young woman gasping for air on a ventilator.

       The advert shows a young Australian struggling to breathe as she lies in a hospital bed.

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       Australians say the advert is 'completely offensive' Credit: Twitter 3

       Canberra faced intense backlash over its slow rollout of Covid jabs Credit: Twitter

       To spook Aussies even further, the ad reads: "COVID-19 can affect anyone.

       "Stay home. Get tested. Book your vaccination."

       The ad is only being shown in Sydney, which is being devastated by an outbreak of the Delta variant and is under its third week of a new lockdown.

       On Sunday, the city recorded its first death from the outbreak this year.

       Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing intense criticism over Australia's sluggish rollout of Covid jabs, which has seen barely 10 per cent of people get fully vaccinated.

       He previously said that getting Australians vaccinated was 'not a race', despite the country's international borders being almost entirely closed since March 2020.

       To make matters worse, the government's recommended vaccine for under 40s - the Pfizer-BioNTech shot - is about to run out.

       One Aussie journalist described the video as "completely offensive".

       He claimed it was ridiculous to "run an ad like this when Australians in this age group are still waiting for their bloody vaccinations".

       "Why are we targeting young people? Shouldn't we be targeting the rising rate of vaccine hesitancy in over-55s?" said another Twitter user.

       "Every piece of health communication should be tasteful, has to have integrity and honesty. This fails in that regard," Bill Bowtell, a professor at the University of New South Wales, told CNN.

       Some health professionals are calling for the clip to be binned, saying its "insensitive".

       But Australia's head scientist Paul Kelly said it was "meant to be graphic" to "push the message home" about observing new lockdown rules.

       "We are only doing this because of the situation in Sydney," he said.

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       Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the ad was 'meant to be graphic' Credit: Twitter

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       Answering his critics, Mr Morrison said it wasn't for Australians to "be complacent about this".

       "I know that, and it was only a few weeks ago that our very critics were saying that the advertising needed to be stronger, far stronger, even making references to grim reapers," he told Sky News Australia.

       "[The ad] has two messages... one is to stay at home," Morrison added.

       "We can't be complacent about this. And young people moving around the city was putting people at risk right across the community, including themselves."

       New South Wales, of which Sydney is the state capital, reported 112 new cases on Monday, almost all in Sydney, despite the strict lockdown measures.