Doctors and nurses will be sitting ducks without booster shot plan
A major healthcare provider says its doctors and nurses who were vaccinated early in the countryâs rollout are at risk of being âsitting ducksâ if the federal government does not launch a booster vaccine program soon.
Catholic Health Australia has written to the Prime Minister and Health Minister, urging the federal government to start delivering COVID-19 booster shots in October. The organisation says the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation must also review evidence on boosters as a matter of urgency.
Australia is set to get 80 million booster shots next year, including doses of the Moderna vaccine.Credit:AP
The Commonwealth has ordered 85 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be used as boosters, starting next year. So far about 19.4 million doses have been administered, and 35 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated.
Catholic Health Australiaâs director of health policy, James Kemp, said it was easy to get bogged down in the current rollout but an immunity crisis was fast approaching.
âThere is now strong evidence that the immunity offered against [the Delta variant] by two vaccine doses wears off almost entirely after eight months. So those who were vaccinated in February may be exposed come October. That means doctors, nurses, and those in aged care may be vulnerable within two months,â he said.
âIf youâre a doctor working in a high-risk setting you canât get a booster shot right now, because ATAGI hasnât approved one. That makes you a sitting duck once October rolls around.â
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said getting high vaccination rates was the current priority, and boosters will be available after the first round of first and second doses through GPs and pharmacies.
âWeâve got, you know, 80 million or thereabouts booster doses for next year,â he told Cairns radio station 4CA on Tuesday.
âTheyâre already lined up beginning next year to ensure that we maintain our protection. Once we get to those high vaccination rates, weâve got to maintain them with the booster shots.â
The UK has been considering starting a booster program this month, and Israel has already begun offering a third Pfizer dose as some un-peer reviewed research showed the vaccineâs efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 waned over time.
But vaccine and infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy said research published in medical journals including Nature and Science showed that for many people, immunity was long-lasting.
âItâs very clear that some people have high levels of protection even one year after vaccination,â he said.
Professor Booy said we were likely to need boosters, particularly for vulnerable people including the elderly, those with underlying health conditions and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people, as well as healthcare workers.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said the Commonwealth was âactively monitoring the evidence on the need for a booster programâ.
Of the 25 million Moderna doses secured by the government, 15 million will be boosters or âvariant-specificâ doses to be used next year. The government has also signed an agreement with Pfizer for 60 million doses for next year and 25 million for 2023, on top of the 40 million contracted to arrive this year, the spokeswoman said.
âAustralia is well-prepared for booster vaccines if they are required. This has been taken into account in the purchase agreements already in place,â she said.
Professor Booy said a booster program could start in March next year, but it should not come at the expense of helping our Pacific neighbours with their own vaccination programs.
âWe havenât done that for Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and we need to do that first. Thatâs where the mutations are happening. Thatâs where the trouble is going to come,â Professor Booy said.
âWeâve got an opportunity in the next six months to get our neighbours well and truly vaccinated. And then six months from now, weâll want to be getting boosters into at-risk people.â
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