Canberra, Feb 8 (IANS)Â Australian Minister for Health Mark Butler on Wednesday said the government has accepted the advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) to roll out a new round of booster shots.
From February 20, all adults who have not had a booster shot or were infected with Covid-19 in the past six months will be eligible for another dose, reports Xinhua news agency.
Butler said ATAGI particularly recommended that everyone aged 65 and over and younger adults with medical comorbidities, disability or complex health needs have a 2023 booster dose.
The government has 4 million doses of Omicron-specific vaccine doses available now with another 10 million expected to arrive in February.
“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,” Butler said in a statement.
“Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells and I will be writing to aged care providers to encourage them to bring local pharmacists and general practitioners into their facilities to administer the additional booster doses.”
As of January, about 72 per cent of eligible people had received a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 44 per cent took their fourth.