Despite last week’s announcement of a fourth COVID shot for vulnerable Australians, experts are still uncertain about the need to extend the vaccine booster program to include others who are less at risk.
Professor Jaya Dantas from Curtin University’s School of Population Health said that even though the fourth shot is an effective strategy to protect susceptible groups as we prepare for the winter flu season, it is still too early to say if the program should be expanded to the rest of the population.
“Not at this stage – I don’t think that this (booster program) should be rolled out like a normal vaccine. It should be for priority groups. But we need to see how we will do this winter with respect to the resurgence of new variants of COVID, with respect to the flu season, and with the rollout of our antivirals,” Professor Dantas explained.
“A fourth dose will definitely help with the priority groups but not for the other categories, I think we should wait at present.
“But what I would really like to see is ATAGI, the Federal Department of Health, and the States’ Departments of Health working on a strategy where people, when they test positive, are also given antivirals so that they actively prevent the severity of the disease,” Professor Dantas said.
“The antivirals got approval from ATAGI a few months ago, and now that the fourth dose has approval, it’s important to see how we manage this within the health system, both the rollout of the booster as well as the antivirals.”
Commenting on the need for mandates to support any potential rollout of the fourth dose for the general population, Prof Jaya said that because WA already enjoys such a high vaccination rate, there was doubt about their efficacy in the future.
“In WA we have reached the state where we have really high numbers of vaccination rates, so currently, I don’t know whether having those mandates will make a difference or not,” Professor Dantas said.
“There will be a small dropout rate, and nobody can avoid that – because people may feel that they have had two vaccines and just want to wait and see, or they are young or in their 30’s and don’t feel the need – they feel well enough,” she explained.
“All these things go through people’s minds about taking the vaccine and many people want to be assured that there will not be a rollout of further boosters, and further boosters. People get sceptical about that… people get worried, ‘I’ve taken three doses and is this not going to protect me?’”
Following advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), from Monday the 4th of April the second booster will be provided for adults 65 years and over, Indigenous Australians who are 50 years and over, aged care and disability residents, and people aged 16 years and older who are severely immunocompromised.