The waiting time for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots in Australia has been cut from six months to five in a bid to keep people protected against the virus and slow its spread as the Omicron variant emerges.
The fast-tracking of booster shots was announced on Sunday and it will begin immediately.
The US-made Moderna vaccine has also been approved by authorities as a booster jab. Here’s what you need to know about the latest changes.
What is the new timeframe?
Given the presence of both the Omicron and Delta variants, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) now recommends Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for adults who completed their primary course of vaccination five or more months ago.
“Timely receipt of a booster dose is particularly important for people with increased exposure risk … or who have risk factors for severe disease,” Atagi said in a statement.
Under the new timeframe, more than 4.1 million Australians will be eligible for a booster by 31 December, compared to about 1.75 million if the six-month interval had been retained.
Who is eligible?
Anybody aged 18 and over who completed their vaccination five months ago is eligible for a booster.
Atagi is not currently recommending booster doses for people aged 12 to 17, or those who are severely immunocompromised and have already had a third dose.
Booster programs will be rolled out in residential aged care facilities, and for people with disability who live in shared residential accommodation. Many of these people were prioritised for early vaccination and are now due for their booster dose.
Which vaccines are available?
People can choose either the Pfizer or Modern mRNA vaccine as a booster shot, irrespective of which vaccine they had for their initial course.
The AstraZeneca is not preferred for booster shots. But people can have it as a booster if they:
The health secretary, Brendan Murphy, said on Sunday:
If you had Pfizer or AstraZeneca or Moderna as your primary course, you can have either Pfizer or Moderna as a booster. The evidence would suggest that there’s no clear difference. So depends what’s available and people sometimes might have a preference.
The two mRNA are very similar to the side effects that we see with the primary course: mainly sore arms occasionally, sometimes a bit of a fever. But generally speaking, the evidence suggests that the side effects following a booster are actually less than the side effects following the second dose.
Where can you get it?
More than 8,500 GPs, community pharmacies, Aboriginal community controlled health organisations, commonwealth and state government clinics are able to offer either or both the Moderna and Pfizer boosters.
Individual clinics and state and territory clinics can begin bookings and administering boosters immediately. People eligible for a booster vaccine can make an appointment through the vaccine clinic finder.
More than 670,000 booster shots have already been administered in Australia.
Will my booster show up on my vaccine passport?
Yes. The health minister Greg Hunt previously said Medicare’s vaccination records will be updated to reflect third doses. Two courses of a vaccine is still regarded as fully vaccinated.
What does the science say about wait times?
When he announced the shortened timeframe, Hunt said data from Israel “shows boosters supporting reductions in the rate of infection in eligible age groups, severe disease in those aged over 40 years and deaths in those over 60 years”.
One study of Israelis aged over 60 “found that the rates of confirmed Covid-19 and severe illness were substantially lower among those who received a booster (third) dose”. The participants in the study had all finished their initial vaccination course “at least five months earlier”.
An Israeli department of health study found that a “booster dose shows improved protection against confirmed infection in ages 16 years and above” and adverse events are not more acute than first or second doses.
Late last month, the UK halved its minimum gap for Covid booster jabs from six months to three, after the government accepted advice to speed up the programme to limit the spread of Omicron.