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ATAGI panel to decide on booster Covid vaccination shots will be need to be given in 2021

A decision on whether Covid vaccine booster shots will need to be given this year is soon expected from Australia’s expert immunisation panel.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison receiving the Covid-19 Vaccine. Picture:Justin Lloyd
Prime Minister Scott Morrison receiving the Covid-19 Vaccine. Picture:Justin Lloyd

Australia’s expert immunisation panel is soon expected to confirm whether booster shots will be need to be given this year.

But drug makers are yet to even apply for their Covid-19 vaccines to be used as they deal with regulators overseas.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) is currently considering the need for booster doses and is expected to provide advice shortly.

Victorian health authorities have also sought advice from the group, saying they would consider how to implement boosters “once it is available”.

It is now more than six months since Scott Morrison and a group of elderly Australians were the first to be fully vaccinated, with other countries administering booster jabs after that time frame.

This week, Health Minister Greg Hunt told Pfizer that Australia was “well placed to receive booster vaccines in the event that these are also approved by the TGA and recommended by the ATAGI”.

Staff are seen preparing Pfizer vaccine doses inside the Melbourne Showgrounds COVID-19 Vaccination Centre. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images
Staff are seen preparing Pfizer vaccine doses inside the Melbourne Showgrounds COVID-19 Vaccination Centre. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Pfizer had in the US applied for its shots to be given to people aged 16 and older, and the Biden administration had announced a plan to give most Americans a booster after eight months.

But a committee last week recommended the US drug regulator grant Pfizer boosters emergency use authorisation for people aged 65 and over, as well as those at high risk of severe Covid-19, with the third dose administered at least six months after the second.

Kids aged 12 and over who are immunocompromised are also recommended to have a third shot in the US. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce its decision in coming days, with President Joe Biden vowing to get his extra shot on camera.

Pfizer has also submitted an application to the European Medicines Agency and is expected to apply to other regulatory authorities in the coming weeks.

A Health Department spokesman said the Australia government was “ready to address any longer term immunity or emerging variants of the virus” with its vaccine deals.

At least 60 million Pfizer doses are due next year, followed by 25 million in 2023, while almost two-thirds of the 25 million Moderna doses secured are for booster or variant-specific versions of the vaccine.

The government also has an agreement for 51 million Novavax doses, but the company is yet to submit all the documents needed for approval in Australia.

A nurse administers the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a drive through vaccination centre in Melton.
A nurse administers the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a drive through vaccination centre in Melton.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration would need to approve an application from the companies for its vaccines to be administered as boosters. ATAGI would then advise the government about usage and how often they should be administered.

A federal tender seeking a group of companies that can give Pfizer vaccinations at workplaces also expects they will deliver boosters next year.

“As panel arrangements are intended to be in place until 2023, it is envisaged that these arrangements will cover the program of booster vaccination forecast in 2022 and beyond,” it states.

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/atagi-panel-to-decide-on-booster-covid-vaccination-shots-will-be-need-to-be-given-in-2021/news-story/2ffab5c2d8068b707efcb940580b45ed