(Sydney) Australia will offer a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines to over-65s starting next month, health authorities announced on Friday, as a new strain of the Omicron variant spreads among the population .
Posted at 7:33 a.m.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the extra dose would be available from April 4 for people who received a third dose at least four months previously.
The booster dose “is your best protection against the most severe effects of COVID-19 and can protect you against” the long-term effects of the coronavirus, Hunt said.
This will be primarily aimed at vulnerable groups: people over 65, indigenous people over 50, immunocompromised people and residents of retirement homes.
Over the past six weeks, other countries such as France, Germany and Sweden have recommended the injection of a fourth dose for the most vulnerable groups, including the elderly.
Australia has recorded more than 50,000 daily cases in recent days, around double the number of cases recorded a month earlier attributed in part to the rise of a more contagious variant of Omicron.
The Minister of Health also said that travelers will no longer be required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival in the country from April 17 but will have to be vaccinated and wear the mask on the plane.
Australia has recorded a total of 3.93 million cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, and 5,824 deaths.