Why has Australia reduced the Covid vaccine booster jab wait time to five months?

The waiting time for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots in Australia has been cut from six months to five in a bid to keep people protected against the virus and slow its spread as the Omicron variant emerges.

Given the presence of both the Omicron and Delta variants, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) now recommends Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for adults who completed their primary course of vaccination five or more months ago.

Under the new timeframe, more than 4.1 million Australians will be eligible for a booster by 31 December, compared with about 1.75 million if the six-month interval had been retained.

Anybody aged 18 and over who completed their vaccination five months ago is eligible for a booster.

Atagi is not currently recommending booster doses for people aged 12 to 17, or those who are severely immunocompromised and have already had a third dose.

Booster programs will be rolled out in residential aged care facilities, and for people with disability who live in shared residential accommodation. Many of these people were prioritised for early vaccination and are now due for their booster dose.

People can choose either the Pfizer or Modern mRNA vaccine as a booster shot, irrespective of which vaccine they had for their initial course.

The AstraZeneca is not preferred for booster shots. But people can have it as a booster if they:

The health secretary, Brendan Murphy, said on Sunday:

More than 8,500 GPs, community pharmacies, Aboriginal community controlled health organisations, commonwealth and state government clinics are able to offer either or both the Moderna and Pfizer boosters.

Individual clinics and state and territory clinics can begin bookings and administering boosters immediately. People eligible for a booster vaccine can make an appointment through the vaccine clinic finder.

More than 670,000 booster shots have already been administered in Australia.

Late last month, the UK halved its minimum gap for Covid booster jabs from six months to three, after the government accepted advice to speed up the program to limit the spread of Omicron.