SYDNEY – Australia is offering a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines to those over 65 from next month, federal health authorities announced today as a new Omicron strain races through the population.
The top advisory group on vaccines approved the fourth shot for vulnerable groups: those aged over 65, indigenous people over 50, people who are immunocompromised, and care home residents.
In the past six weeks, other countries, including France, Germany, and Sweden, as well as health authorities in England, have recommended a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose for the most vulnerable, including the elderly.
Australia has been reporting daily infection rates of more than 50,000 in the past few days – about double those of just a month earlier – blamed partly on the rise of a more infectious BA.2 Omicron variant.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the extra dose would be available from April 4 – nearly two months before the start of the Australian winter – for people who had a third dose at least four months earlier.
“A booster is your best protection against the most severe impacts of Covid-19 and may provide protection against long Covid-19,” Hunt said.
The health minister also said people arriving in Australia would no longer have to get proof of a negative Covid-19 test in advance when emergency Covid-19 legislation expires April 17.
Passengers would, however, still need to be vaccinated, and to wear masks on flights. – AFP, March 25, 2022
