‘A question of when’: Albanese backs fourth COVID shots as workplaces slammed

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed state government calls to give more Australians access to a fourth COVID vaccine dose, saying it’s only a question of when those under 65 become eligible.

The nation’s vaccine advisory body, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations (ATAGI), will consider fourth doses at its meeting on Wednesday, while the nation’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, will on Friday consider giving final approval for vaccines for children under five, who have so far been ineligible for any doses.

There are growing calls for Australia’s booster vaccination program to be expanded.Credit: AP

The prime minister intervened in the debate shortly after he returned to Australia from his NATO trip, following petitioning from NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to widen the eligibility criteria.

“We need to broaden it and we need to do it quickly”, Hazzard said at a press conference on Tuesday, adding that he had advocated for fourth shots at a meeting of state and federal health ministers last week. “Every dose helps.”

In Victoria, Andrews said he would campaign for fourth doses for health workers.

“They were the very first to be part of the Commonwealth vaccination program. Some of their immunity is waning, so getting them fourth jabs as fast as possible is very important to help keep COVID out of the hospital.”

The call comes as one of Australia’s top pandemic advisers warned that the impending winter wave of Omicron could be the worst COVID-19 outbreak the nation has ever seen.

Professor James McCaw, an influential scientific expert on coronavirus, says if more isn’t done to slow transmission of the outbreak in Australia, hospitals could be overwhelmed, “and that means unnecessary deaths”.

ATAGI has slowly increased the age range and conditions for eligibility for a fourth shot over the last few months.

People aged 16 and over with chronic cardiac, neurological, kidney, liver and lung disease, who are severely obese or underweight, or with other conditions that leave them immunocompromised have been able to access a fourth jab from May 30, alongside those over 65 and Indigenous Australians.

Both Pfizer and Moderna are working on Omicron variant-specific booster shots but these are likely to be several months away.

But many Australians over 50 are now six months or more past their first boosters, which were rolled out at the height of the summer Omicron wave.

NSW Health Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said she would support ATAGI extending eligibility for second booster shots of the vaccine.

“There are many people, me included, who are about six months since [their] third dose,” she said, adding she “wouldn’t mind a bit of a top-up” in immune protection as Australia’s cases rise.

The TGA meeting on Friday is likely to approve Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids, which is designed for children aged six months to six years old. At present, children aged under five in Australia cannot be vaccinated but the Moderna vaccine and a Pfizer vaccine have started to be administered in the United States.

If the TGA signs off then approval from ATAGI, which would take a month at least, is the next step. That means the vaccine is unlikely to be administered to small children until the end or start of September.

Albanese told radio station 6PR in Perth that it was vital all Australians got their third shot because it had a real impact on mitigating the disease’s symptoms. About 67 per cent of eligible Australians have had their third shot.

“I know that the authorities including ATAGI are looking at that [approving a fourth jab]. I think it’s a question of when rather than whether it will happen. We need to make sure that people continue to keep up their vaccinations,” he said.

Moderna has said its updated Omicron-focused vaccine won’t be ready until October or November.Credit: AP

Albanese said he had recently met Health Department leaders and the chief medical officer.

“I’ve certainly asked them to look at that issue [fourth shots] and also to look at the availability of antivirals as well. Because that [antivirals] can have an impact in getting people through the COVID issues and symptoms if they do get COVID,” he said.

Health Minister Mark Butler told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald his department was “already in negotiations about future supply arrangements, including for under 5-year-olds and the variant vaccines”.

Butler said he had asked the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee to consider broadening the eligibility criteria for antiviral drugs Paxlovid and Lagevrio, which can lessen the impact of COVID-19 but which are currently limited to people aged over 65 with another health condition and people who are immune-compromised.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said businesses faced a chronic shortage of workers across every sector at present because of high numbers of COVID and flu cases and record low migration.

“Employers have helped lead the charge in getting their teams vaccinated and protected against both flu and COVID, and we are ready to help roll out a fourth shot if health authorities recommend one,” she said.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar echoed the concerns about labour shortages and said business will be “particularly vulnerable to winter illnesses”.

“Worsening workforce shortages risk dragging down productivity and looms as a potential handbrake on the post-COVID recovery, along with soaring energy prices and inflation.”

ATAGI member Dr James Wood said there were a number of pros and cons to weigh up when considering whether to further expand eligibility.

The mathematician and epidemiologist said one argument in favour of the change was real-world evidence suggesting the fourth dose could reduce severe disease from Omicron infections by about two thirds, compared to the third dose.

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said patients wanted fourth doses.

“There is no doubt there is a desire in the community for fourth doses and people feel they have been held back too long. We have plenty of vaccines and people can’t understand why we would let vaccines expire on shelves,” he said.

With Dana Daniel.

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