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Australia news live updates: Covid booster vaccines cut to five months amid Omicron concern; NSW records 485 new cases and two deaths Australia news live updates: Covid booster vaccines cut to five months amid Omicron concern; NSW records 485 new cases and two deaths
(32 minutes later)
Wait time to receive booster shots cut from six months to five. Follow all the latest news Follow all the day’s news
If you want a recap of Saturday’s Covid-19 news, you can check out my article from yesterday. Hunt is asked how many doses of Pfizer and Moderna we have in Australia at the moment.
New South Wales recorded the highest number of daily Covid cases since early October while Victoria reported 13 Covid deaths and 1,193 new cases on Saturday. Hunt says Australia has so far received 7.2million Moderna doses and approximately 40 million Pfizer doses. In addition, we have over 28 million AstraZeneca doses.
Plus, the Aacta awards became Covid exposure site after a hospitality worker at the Sydney Opera House tested positive for the virus on the day the awards were held. Hunt adds that:
Read the full story here: Hunt is asked whether Australia is still planning on sending expiring mRNA doses to our neighbours in the Pacific and South-East Asia, and whether shortening the dosage interval will mean fewer doses can be sent?
Federal health minister Greg Hunt is doing a media event at 11am; he and chief medical officer Brendan Murphy will get their Covid-19 booster shots. Hunt suggests the announcement today makes no difference to that plan.
There’ll be a press conference afterwards and I will, of course, be bringing you all the updates! As to the side effects from booster shots, chief health office Brendan Murphy says:
Reports emerged yesterday afternoon that Victorian authorities were investigating a seven potential Omicron infections. Hunt is asked what measure are being taken to ensure people know they are eligible for the booster shots, and what the side effects are around the boosters?
AAP reports: Hunt says that the government will soon launch a booster campaign which will launch in the lead up to Christmas and following Christmas.
The statement from Marisa Payne also says improved connectivity and access to digital technologies “can provide significant economic and social benefits and are key enablers of sustainable development”. He adds that:
There is some coded language in the statement contrasting the project with the approach taken by China: Hunt:
The estimated cost of the project is up to $US80m (about $AU104m). Hunt says that 683,000 people have had their boosters in Australia, “well ahead of expectations, well ahead of schedule”.
The Australian government will join with Japan and the US to fund a new undersea cable in the Pacific, aiming to improve internet services in Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). He says that the decision to bring forward the booster eligibility will mean “an extra 1.5 million people are now eligible to immediately access the boosters”.
The foreign minister, Marise Payne, issued a joint statement with her counterparts in the five countries to say the project “highlights our commitment to work together on critical telecommunications infrastructure and contribute to reliable and secure internet for the region”. Hunt confirms that from today:
In case you want to read it in full, here’s health minister Greg Hunt’s statement regarding Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine booster program changes here: Moderna boosters have been approved by ATAGI and will be made available to everybody aged 18 and older in Australia; and
With the federal election set to take place next year, one question that comes up is: who will replace Christian Porter in the Perth electorate? ATAGI has recommended that the wait time for Covid-19 boosters be brought forward from six months to give months, in light of international evidence around the efficacy and impact of the Omicron variant.
The urban fringe division that hugs the coast north of Perth has belonged to the Liberals for 33 years, with Porter holding Pearce for nearly a decade before his dramatic fall from grace. Federal health minister Greg Hunt is speaking at a press conference in Melbourne.
But Labor has hopes of overturning the 7.5% margin from the 2019 election, with the help of favourable boundary changes, and poll watchers say it can only be a woman to step into Porter’s shoes after this year’s revelations about the toxic culture in federal parliament. From 1am Monday morning, travellers from interstate hot spots can travel to Queensland by road and air, provided they are fully vaccinated, provide evidence of a negative test in the previous 72 hours, complete a border pass and obviously as you know, get a test on day five.
Read the full story from Narelle Towie here: Queensland police commissioner, Katrina Carol, asked people to “be patient and plan ahead, to travel outside of those peak hours if we can, and to ensure that you do have your correct pass.”
A few small caveats at the end of Greg Hunt’s release about availability of the boosters: Queensland now has 47 active Covid-19 cases.
The defence minister, Peter Dutton, says Scott Morrison is “looking forward very much” to welcoming South Korean president Moon Jae-in to Australia. Authorities say that, over the past 24 hours, the state has seen 11,918 new cases, and a doubling in test numbers in Queensland health facilities on the Gold Coast.
Moon is due to meet with the prime minister in Canberra tomorrow. While in Australia, Moon is also scheduled to meet with the opposition leader, Anthony Albanese - an engagement that Dutton described as “a sign of respect”. They urge Queenslanders to remain vigilant, get tested if they have symptoms, and check-in at venues, noting that “anecdotally we have heard that people are perhaps slacking off a little big with regard to checking in and using their check-in apps”.
In an interview on Sky News, Dutton said South Korea was an important trading partner with shared values. Dutton said South Korea lived “under the constant threat of North Korea” and noted Australia’s contribution to the Korean War in the 1950s. A man who’s in his 30s who has recently arrived in Australia from Nigeria has tested positive for Covid-19 in Queensland.
Moon is due to finish his term in early May. Dutton gave a hint of some of the announcements likely to come out of the visit in the coming days: Authorities say that, given the fact he travelled from Africa, they’re “very closely following his genomic sequencing results which should be available in the next day or two days”.
It’s official. The routine interval for booster shots is being cut from six to five months. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) has issued the following new advice: Queensland authorities are speaking ahead of the state’s plan to reopen the border tomorrow.
Given the likelihood of ongoing transmission of both Omicron and Delta variants, ATAGI recommends COVID-19 booster vaccination for anyone aged 18 and older who completed their primary course of COVID-19 vaccination 5 or more months ago. Tragically, two more people have died from Covid-19 in NSW.
Timely receipt of a booster dose is particularly important for people with increased exposure risk (e.g. occupational risk or outbreak areas) or who have risk factors for severe disease. NSW Health reported that an unvaccinated man in his 70s from Sydney’s inner west died at Concord Hospital. An unvaccinated man in his 80s from south-eastern Sydney sadly died at Sutherland Hospital.
Either Comirnaty (Pfizer) or Spikevax (Moderna) are recommended for use as a booster vaccine, and are considered equally acceptable. NSW Health have also provided more information about the 485 new cases of Covid-19 reported today.
ATAGI reiterates that a third (primary) dose of COVID-19 vaccine is also recommended for anyone with immunocompromising conditions, a minimum of two months after their second dose. There are currently 156 cases admitted to hospital, with 23 people intensive care. Of these, seven require ventilation, NSW Health confirmed in a statement.
The full advice can be found here. Atagi has also issued recommendations on the use of Spikevax (Moderna) as a Covid-19 booster vaccine, which can be read here. To date, one Omicron case has been admitted to hospital in NSW for treatment of Covid-19.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, welcomed the updated advice. In a statement, he said:
Hunt described Australia as “a vaccination nation” with more than 40m Covid-19 vaccines having been administered to date.
The government says people eligible for a booster vaccine can make an appointment by visiting www.australia.gov.au or through the Vaccine Clinic Finder at www.health.gov.au.
You may be wondering why Australia would consider shortening the wait time for Covid-19 booster shots.
It’s early days, but the data around the Omicron variant so far shows that two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine offers less defence against symptomatic infections from the Omicron variant, compared with Delta.
But the great news is that experts say a booster jab raises the protection against the Omicron variant considerably.
Read the Guardian’s latest story on the findings here:
Peter Dutton, speaking to Sky News this morning, also encouraged everyone to get their Covid-19 booster shot.
The defence minister, Peter Dutton, is encouraging people to get the booster shots as soon as they are eligible.
Dutton also says he hopes people can “reunite with their families over Christmas without the fear of being locked down or having to do two weeks before they arrive or two weeks after they get back to their home state”.
In an interview on Sky News this morning, Dutton was asked about the plan to bring forward booster shots by a month and the federal government’s desire to avoid a return to lockdowns.
Dutton replied that it was important to recognise the mental health and domestic violence implications of lockdowns. He said:
Western Australia is increasing border restrictions for travellers from Queensland due to a rise in Covid-19 cases over there.
The news comes just days before WA was set to reopen its borders.
Our friends at AAP have the story:
Victorian health minister Brett Sutton tweeted his support for bringing the Covid-19 booster shot wait time forward to five months.
Good morning! It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here to bring you the headlines today, Sunday 12 December 2021.The Australian government is expected to announce that it will cut the wait time for Covid-19 booster shots from six months to five, in an effort to combat the fast-spreading Omicron variant.Health minister Greg Hunt told Nine newspapers:
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) has also approved the Moderna Covid-19 booster to be offered alongside Pfizer, the ABC has reported.