Royal Melbourne Hospital ICU nurse unit manager Michelle Spence said those patients included a man in his 30s with no underlying conditions.
“I've seen it myself, they're begging for the vaccination, they are very young, and once we get to that point where we are about to put them on life support, it really is too late,” she said.
“One of the saddest things I’ve seen over the past few months is people wanting the vaccination just before we put them on a life support machine.”
Ms Spence became emotional as she described the lonely deaths in ICU for patients and implored Victorians not to delay getting the jab.
“I know you're frustrated. I know you're scared. I know you're over it; we're all over it. But it's time to absolutely make a difference,” she said.
Jacqui Harper, nurse unit manager at Melbourne’s Northern Hospital, said nursing staff was holding up iPads so dying patients could farewell their family.
“The clinical deterioration is so sad. One minute sitting in a chair, an hour later, they could be saying their goodbyes,” she said.
Premier Daniel Andrews said despite high case numbers and lockdowns in metropolitan and regional areas, including Shepparton, there was still hope through vaccinations.
“We are so, so close, we can see to the other side of this now,” he said.
Shepparton added a further eight cases on Sunday but Victorian COVID commander Jeroen Weimar said the situation had not worsened dramatically.
“Generally, the regional Victorian picture looks pretty stable, but we do have 425 cases in total now across regional Victoria,” he said.
Mr Weimar said the demographics behind Sunday’s cases show it was the young and unvaccinated who were driving the virus spread.
“The numbers are pretty stark, 1220 cases, over half (54 per cent) under the age of 30, 70 per cent of those cases in the past 24 hours under the age of 40,” he said.
“We are talking about young people, and largely unvaccinated young people.”
