Three vaccines now needed to be ‘up to date’, as states and territories eye sector mandates

“Fully vaccinated” should mean three doses of a vaccine, according to the independent advisory body, as the states and territories were given the power to create a patchwork of mandates across the country.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) made the recommendation that the booster becomes part of the definition to national cabinet yesterday, but advised leaders to refer to it as “up to date” on vaccination, rather than “fully vaccinated”.

It advised a person should get a booster three months after their second dose, and should be considered “overdue” if they had not had a booster shot within six months.

Around 9 million people aged over 16 have received their third shot so far in Australia, but Catholic Health Australia (CHA) — which accounts for 10% of the country’s hospital-based healthcare — said people were too relaxed about the booster.

“A huge contributor to the speed of vaccination last year was people feeling responsibility for getting low rates to climb,” CHA’s manager of health policy Alex Lynch says.

“We need to put that impetus on society once again.”

Lynch says a fully vaccinated community, with three doses for all who are eligible, “will help alleviate pressure on our hospitals and start getting us back to normal”.

Workers in aged care are the only cohort required to receive three vaccines under the national mandate, but state and territory leaders were told they were free to choose whether to mandate sections of the 16+ population.

The ATAGI recommended any changes to state or territory rules should be delayed until March, however.

Victoria has already mandated the booster for workforces in healthcare and social services, but workers have until mid-March to receive their third vaccine.

Premier Daniel Andrews was less insistent on a three-jab rule on international arrivals yesterday, after he was met with a strong reaction from business and tourism groups in the state.

“We will try to the maximum extent possible to have consistent rules that will probably mean they won’t be perfect rules because we will all have to compromise a little bit,” he says.

Andrews continued that it may mean Victoria has different rules in some circumstances, like “some people who are here short term, for instance”.

“There might be different rules for someone who isn’t necessarily a citizen but is a resident for the purposes of international study,” he says.

The ATAGI is also mulling over whether the vulnerable will require a fourth shot and checking medical supply chains and auditing hospital capacity to ensure the country is prepared for a dangerous second wave of Omicron forecast this winter.

It comes as the Therapeutic Goods Administration provisionally approved the AstraZeneca booster, known as Vaxzevria, for people aged 18 and older, but the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines remain the preferred booster in Australia, according to the government.

“The Australian Government continues to encourage individuals to have a booster (third dose) following their initial two vaccination doses to enable strong protection against severe illness and hospitalisation, particularly from the omicron variant,” a TGA spokesperson advised.