Covid booster program extended to include 16 and 17 year olds

The nation’s expert immunisation panel has given these teens the green light for a booster shot three months after they received their second dose.

Australia’s Covid booster program will be extended to include 16 and 17 year olds, in a move to bolster their protection against the Omicron variant as they return to the classroom.

The nation’s expert immunisation panel has given teens the green light for a booster shot three months after they received their second dose.

The change means almost two in three in this cohort will become eligible for another jab from Thursday.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was pleased the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation worked so quickly to recommend the rollout be extended – with Pfizer’s Covid vaccine only approved as a booster shot for the age group six days ago.

“With the return to school this week, and many of these young people in, or approaching, their final year of schooling the ability to extend the vaccines protection even further will help provide stability and reassurance during this important period of their studies,” Mr Hunt said.

Nine out of 10 teens aged 16-17 across the country have already had two doses of a Covid vaccine.

Australia’s Covid booster program will be extended to include 16 and 17 year olds.

Severely immunocompromised teens who have had a third Covid dose as part of their primary vaccination course will also be eligible for a booster, three months after their third shot.

People who were 15 years old when they received their second dose, but have since turned 16, will become eligible for a booster once they have passed the three-month interval.

Authorities say there is enough supply to vaccinate every person in Australia seeking a booster, including this new cohort.

Booster shots are yet to be approved for adolescents aged 12-15 years.

Almost 8.2 million Aussies have received more than two doses of a Covid vaccine, as authorities ramp up calls for people to protect themselves from the Omicron variant with a booster shot.

In Victoria, 40.4 per cent of people aged 18 and over have had three doses of a Covid vaccine.

While almost 46 per cent of kids aged five and 11 have had one dose since becoming eligible about three weeks ago.

Pfizer has now asked the US Food and Drug Administration for its paediatric vaccine to be given approval for use in children aged under five years.

Mr Hunt, who has previously encouraged pharmaceutical giants to make an application to Australia’s drug regulator for its jab to be used in kids aged five to 11 years, is in ongoing talks with the companies about protection for younger children.