Calls grow for faster booster shot rollout as Omicron wave swamps nation
Calls are growing for the faster rollout of Australia’s Covid-19 booster program, as daily infection tallies continue to surge.
Additional federal payments to GPs and pharmacies of $10 per booster jab will be provided to bolster Australiaās rollout as the two biggest states ā NSW and Victoria ā record a combined 7720 new daily infections.
āBasically, what it (the payment) does is reverses the cuts that were in place for the funding of booster doses relative to the funding of the second primary dose,āĀ Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Trent Twomey told ABC TV on Thursday.
āThis is not about making money. This is about putting on enough staff that have enough resources to be able to replicate what is being done in those big vaccination hubs.ā
TheĀ Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has not yet made a decision about whether to shorten the gap between second and third vaccine doses from five months, to three or four.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is keen for the time frame to be cut.
āQuite clearly, all the medical advice from overseas and the experience that we have is that it should be,ā he told the Nine Network.
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āAnd I am sure that ATAGI will come up with that recommendation.ā
Mr Albanese also thinks Australians will inevitably be required to have a booster jab to be considered fully vaccinated, something ATAGI is also looking at.
Vaccine rollout coordinatorĀ Lieutenant General John Frewen has reassured people the country has enough booster shots, even if there are hiccups with distribution.
āThereās right now more supply than the requirement,ā he told ABC TV.
The country has 20 million vaccines in stock. About five million are in fridges at GPs, pharmacies and state hubs.
More than half of Australians eligible for a booster have received one.
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Meanwhile, theĀ Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has recommended strongly masks be worn indoors across the board.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison supports this but insists people donāt need a mask mandate.
Mandates would remain in the remit of individual states and territories, he said.
The AHPPC is due to report back to federal, state and territory leaders on recommended national definitions and requirements for virus contacts within a fortnight.
It is also preparing advice about the use of traditional clinic and at-home rapid antigen tests as cases continue to climb and people rush to meet pre-travel testing requirements.
The NSW government is looking at mailing households free rapid antigen tests after reporting 5715 new daily infections and one more death on Thursday.
There are also suggestions itās considering whether to make unvaccinated residents foot the bill if they require hospital treatment for Covid-19.
This has been condemned by health experts including the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners.
āThis is the whole basis of being a civil society. We do look after the most vulnerable,ā its president Karen Price told ABC radio.
Victoria recorded 2005 new daily COVID-19 infections and 10 additional deaths, while there were 26 new cases in Tasmania.
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