More than 3 million people in NSW have become eligible for a booster shot in the past two weeks, but younger people have been slow to come forward | lucy_carroll marywardy Nigelgladstone
About two-thirds of people aged over 70 in NSW have had a booster jab, but new data has revealed the vast majority of young people are yet to have their third shot.show while 68 per cent of those in their 70s have been boosted, less than a third of people under 40 have had the extra shot, although many only recently became eligible.
More than 3 million people became eligible for a booster shot in the past two weeks as wait times were slashed to three months. Health experts warn the third dose is critical for ramping up protection against the highly contagious Omicron variant as immunity wanes and the new variant is more likely to sidestep two doses.
However, surging infection rates and changing eligibility rules have likely contributed to these lower rates. About one in three NSW residents in their 20s and 30s became eligible to receive their booster at GPs and pharmacies overnight on Tuesday.University of Sydney vaccine expert Professor Julie Leask said attention on booster uptake in younger groups was vital, especially as they were more likely to spread the virus.
The number of boosters administered slowed last week, as health authorities said appointments were “going begging” withThere were 372,411 booster shots given in NSW in the week ending January 30, compared to 470,491 the previous week, figures from the Australian Immunisation Register showed. This was mostly due to the Australia Day public holiday, but doses administered on January 23 and 24 were down 20 per cent on the previous week.
Older people who had not received two doses were 13 times more likely to experience severe illness than those who were boosted, with more than one in 10 cases requiring intensive care or dying. “There are still some antibodies that are generated after two doses, but a proportion can no longer recognise the new variant. What boosting does is bring the number of antibodies up to a high enough level to improve protection against severe disease.”“Boosting is critical to maintain immunity in older people. The elderly may also be more susceptible because their immunity could be reduced more quickly over time, particularly if they were vaccinated early in the vaccine rollout.
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