Vulnerable Australians will be encouraged to receive a fourth dose of the COVID vaccine amid increased fears winter could spark a massive infection surge.
A second booster shot will be made available to people over the age of 65 and those who are immunocompromised from April following advice from the nation’s top immunisation experts.
The Australian Technical Advisoxjmtzywry Group on Immunisation will also recommend Indigenous Australians aged 50 and over, as well as residents of aged and disability care facilities, will be eligible for an additional dose.
But the advisory body said the was “insufficient evidence” to expand eligibility up to everyday Australians.
“There is insufficient evidence of the benefits of an additional booster dose to make recommendations at this time,” ATAGI said in a statement.
“ATAGI will continue to monitor emerging evidence and may recommend an additional dose for these groups in the future.”
“These recommendations for an additional booster dose focus on protecting the most vulnerable groups against severe disease and reducing the potential burden on the healthcare system over the coming months.”
The fourth shot is to be given four months after people received their booster dose and can be co-administered with the influenza vaccine.
Pfizer and Moderna are the preferred vaccines for the winter shot but ATAGI said AstraZeneca could be used where “an mRNA vaccine is contraindicated or a person declines vaccination with an mRNA vaccine”.
Novavax can be used if there are no other vaccines “considered suitable” for an individual.
More than 12.5 million boosters have been administered across Australia.
In February, ATAGI formally dumped the term fully vaccinated, ruling Australians aged 16 and over would require a third dose of the jab to be considered “up to date”.
Medical experts have indicated they would like to shift away from numbered vaccine doses and for a jab akin to the flu vaccine to be administered annually.
It comes as Australia experiences a surge in COVID cases, driven by the Omicron subvariant BA.2.
Meanwhile, two Melbourne-made COVID vaccines, which developers hope will be more powerful and protective than existing jabs, are set to begin human trials.
The new vaccine candidates – developed by the Doherty Institute and Monash University, focus solely on the tip of the virus’ spike protein, the receptor binding domain.
Over 110 Melburnians will be jabbed at the Royal Melbourne Hospital over the coming months as part of the first phase of trials.
