Australians can receive COVID-19 booster vaccine one month earlier to combat Omicron strain

The Federal Government has granted early access to a COVID-19 booster shot in attempts to combat the Omicron variant.

Millions of Australians across the nation are now able to get their booster shot one month earlier, after the Government acted on advice received from the ATAGI.

This change to the national vaccine rollout will allow people to receive their booster jab just five months after their second dose of a COVID vaccine, instead of six.

It comes as Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly last week said there was not enough evidence to support the earlier dosage of a booster shot.

However, State governments on Friday were given advice by medical experts that the Omicron variant was not as transmissible as initially anticipated, and it did not appear to cause more serious illness.

More information is still to be learnt around the new strain infecting the globe.

So far more than 670,000 Australians have received a booster shot.

The Moderna vaccine was also given final approval from the ATAGI to be used as a booster shot, alongside Pfizer.

The Moderna booster will only be half the usage dosage.

“Australia’s whole-of-population booster program is supported by more than 151 million Pfizer, Novavax and Moderna vaccines secured for supply into the future,” Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

“Australia is well prepared to provide booster doses as approvals are provided by the medical experts.”

The Government has already secured 25 million doses of the vaccine, with 15 million of those expected to be rolled out at the start of 2022.