All Australian adults will soon be eligible to receive a fifth COVID vaccine after the government implemented the recommendations of its health advisory panel.
Federal health and aged care minister Mark Butler announced today that based on the advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), all adults who have not had a COVID booster or a confirmed case of COVID in the past six months can now get another booster – which for most would be their fifth jab.
In particular, ATAGI says people aged 65 and over, as well as anybody at risk of serious illness, should make sure they get another booster in 2023. However, all adults will be eligible.
The advice is specific to the situation in Australian in early 2023, and ATAGI says its ongoing surveillance of COVID-19 infection rates, new variants and vaccine effectiveness will determine any future recommendations concerning boosters.
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“From February 20, all adults who haven’t had a booster or an infection in the past six months can go out and get a booster shot, to give them additional protection against severe illness from COVID,” Mr Butler says.
“If you’re 65 or over, or you’re an adult at risk of severe COVID illness, and it’s been six months since your last booster or infection, it’s now time for a booster.”
Any available COVID vaccine will suffice as a booster shot, but ATAGI says Omicron-specific mRNA booster vaccines are the most effective.
Currently, there a four million Omicron-specific doses in the country, with another 10 million doses set to arrive before the end of February.
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“The government has secured millions of doses of Omicron-specific boosters, with millions more arriving this month, in the largest one-month arrival since late 2021,” Mr Butler says.
“Minister for aged care Anika Wells and I will be writing to aged care providers to encourage them to bring local pharmacists and GPs into their facilities to administer the additional booster doses.”
The move into aged care facilities is particularly important as the number of COVID deaths in the sector jumped sharply last month.
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Data from the Department of Health confirmed that there were 597 COVID deaths across care facilities between 22 December and 25 January, compared with just 246 deaths between November and December.
While getting a COVID booster is important, new daily case numbers are at their lowest point for months, at around 3000 cases per day. This is down from a peak of 110,000 cases per day in January and February 2022.
Will you be getting a fifth COVID jab? Let us know in the comments section below.