Booster program shifts focus to state clinics in light of Omicron wave | rachelclun Dana_Adele paulsakkal
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated mass vaccination hubs will be key to getting booster shots to millions of Australians under a recalibration of the program as state and federal governments weigh up modelling showing thousands could be hospitalised daily at the peak of the Omicron wave.
But medical bodies, including the Australian Medical Association, said speeding up the booster rollout would be a logistical feat. Modelling from the Doherty Institute provided to federal, state and territory leaders ahead of the national cabinet meeting showed that without low-to-medium restrictions such as density limits,, which would lift hospitalisation rates to 4000 a day.
“Cases will likely go up over the next month, slowly drop off and then really kick up next winter,” he said. “What is more important is the hospital admissions, rather than the number of cases. Although we don’t know the severity of Omicron, for the unvaccinated the consequences are still significant.”
“We are all going to get coronavirus. What Omicron has done has sped that up. But the question still remains about what Omicron’s true virulence is compared to Delta.” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Tuesday echoed the call from the NSW and Victorian health ministers to shorten the booster dose interval to four months, saying he wanted a “constructive conversation” with national cabinet about the booster schedule.
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