New push for millions of Aussies to receive a fifth Covid jab

Millions of Australians may be told to get a fifth Covid vaccine, despite Anthony Albanese’s government saying in November it won’t be necessary.

Vaccine experts have called for a third booster to be given at the same time as the flu shot in April and May, before the virus is expected to reach its peak of infection.

Professor Robert Booy, an infectious disease expert at the University of Sydney, said the efficacy of the last booster shot given six months ago by the elderly and the immunocompromised was “wearing off”.

“I think it’s pretty straightforward, to be honest. Winter is coming. We have waning immunity against Omicron,’ he told the daily telegraph.

“We have vulnerable people who haven’t had a booster for six months and a minimal booster once a year is appropriate at the time that could be given in April-May at the same time flu vaccines are rolled out,” he said. saying.

‘It’s not exactly rocket science to have commercial availability for those who want to pay. As long as those who are vulnerable get it for free,’

Professor Booy’s call for the vaccine to be free for people over 65 with multiple medical conditions, disabilities and indigenous Australians has been backed by other academics, including Professor Paul Griffin, a vaccine expert at the University of Queensland.

However, in November, Health Minister Mark Butler said the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) had decided against recommending the fifth dose after “considering international evidence and local data”.

The ATAGI noted that severe illness and death during a recent wave of the virus in Singapore were very rare for people who had received at least two doses of a covid vaccine.

Vaccine experts have called for a third booster to be delivered at the same time as the flu shot in April and May, before the virus is expected to reach its infection peak (a shopper is shown during the Covid pandemic 2021 in Sydney)

Professor Robert Booy (pictured), an infectious disease expert, urges a third booster to be offered from April. In November, Health Minister Mark Butler said ATAGI had decided not to recommend the fifth dose.

“At this time, they said they anticipate new booster recommendations to be made in early 2023 in preparation for the southern hemisphere winter,” Butler said at the time.

There have been an average of 6,500 Covid cases per day recorded in Australia during January.

This is a drop from the 15,000 infections reported in December.

ATAGI had initially recommended not receiving a fifth covid-19 vaccine last November.

But that advice was provided after evidence emerged from Singapore that a fifth shot had a “trivial effect” on virus transmission in the country.

The evidence also showed that serious illness or death was rare among vaccinated people.