Premier Steven Marshall’s hope of fast tracking booster shots delayed by PM
The plan to fast-track Covid boosters is on hold while the Prime Minister gets expert advice – as the threat from the Omicron variant escalates.
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Premier Steven Marshall’s push to fast-track the Covid-19 booster shot gap by one month is on hold as Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the country’s leaders seek more expert medical advice.
On a record day of 198 Covid cases in SA, Mr Marshall said he made a strong case to allow the booster vaccine for eligible people at four months instead of five.
But an emergency national cabinet meeting is seeking new advice from an expert panel of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).
After hearing of the escalating Omicron threat, state and territory leaders will meet again in a fortnight to consider the advice, including on who should be a priority for the booster jab.
It is understood state and territory leaders on Wednesday heard “concerns” that people aged 18 to 35 are considered the country’s biggest “superspreaders” of the virus.
“I have spoken with the national cabinet to convey my eagerness for booster shots to be brought forward from five months to four months from the previous dose,” Mr Marshall said.
“As we await advice … we have already begun flexing up our vaccination clinic capacity in readiness.”
The Prime Minister said the booster decision would be made by ATAGI and not himself, or political leaders, as there were indemnity issues.
A joint statement after Wednesday’s meeting said leaders had agreed “decisions on changing booster intervals is … for ATAGI”.
The Prime Minister said the booster decision would be made by ATAGI and not himself, or political leaders, as there were indemnity issues.
The country’s emergency medical panel will also review appropriate travel testing rules after SA’s mandatory swabs for interstate arrivals was scrapped as the besieged testing system crumbled.
The statement said this would include “considering” removing requirements to PCR test before travel and use rapid antigen testing instead.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee will also produce advice for a national consensus on the definition of close and casual contacts.
Mr Morrison said current testing rules had caused “terrible queues and long waits”.
“This is putting unnecessary pressure on the testing system,” he said. “That needs to get sorted and I’d like to see that … as soon as possible.”
A state government spokesman said there were no plans to change testing requirements “at this stage”.
“The state government is constantly reviewing all restrictions and will continue to act in the best interests of all South Australians through the Covid pandemic,” he said.
Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said rapid tests, which can produce false readings, are likely to be widely available to buy in stores within a week.
“But what we do want to make sure is people absolutely understand, if they have symptoms, they need to go get an SA Pathology or Clinpath PCR test done,” she told FiveAA radio.
In an effort to bolster the vaccination network as more Australians become eligible for their third jab, the federal government will pay an extra $10 to GPs and pharmacists for each shot administered.
Distribution will also be expanded. More than 1.7 million Australians have had a third dose, including Jessica Penfold, of Semaphore, who got a jab at the Myer Centre.
“I’m very concerned about Covid,” Ms Penfold, 25, said.
There are 12 ill aged-care residents from the Bene nursing home at St Agnes – including a woman in her 90s in the Royal Adelaide Hospital – and five sick staff.
Another four patients are stable in the RAH, a tally that has not risen in the past
Three Santos workers at its Moomba gas plant are also infectious.
“Production has not been impacted and our Covid-19 health and safety protocols have been implemented in line with government advice,” a company spokeswoman said.
Two of the three staff, who are fully vaccinated, have been flown to Adelaide with mild symptoms.The third is staying in Moomba under medical supervision.
The state is officially in an outbreak after three consectutive days of more than 100 cases.
Just two days out from Christmas, more than 5000 people are in quarnatine including infectious patients and close contacts.
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