Key Points
- People with disability and their carers will be urged to get their second COVID-19 booster shot.
- More than a million disability pensioners and their carers will receive texts from August.
People with disability and their carers will be the focus of a text message campaign to improve Australia's uptake of second COVID-19 boosters and antiviral treatments.
More than a million disability pensioners and their carers will from August receive texts highlighting access to fourth vaccination doses and antivirals to counteract the potential for severe illness.
The campaign will be targeted and the messages have been developed following consultation with those living with a disability.
The federal government extended eligibility for Australians who test positive for COVID-19 to be able to access antiviral treatments on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme earlier this month.
That group now includes anyone aged 30 or over who is disabled and has at least one other identified risk factor. Weekly prescriptions for oral antivirals have almost tripled since the access changes.
The text message campaign comes after the country's disability reform ministers came together in Canberra on Friday to discuss issues impacting people with disability.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Bill Shorten and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth led the meeting.
The latter said up to 40,000 people a day will be sent texts in an effort to boost protection.
"We know that vaccination rates for people on the disability support pension are lower than the general population," Ms Rishworth said.
"The ... government is committed to leaving no one behind and holding no one back and that includes people living with disability."
Meanwhile, the nation's health regulator says no rapid antigen tests (RATs) have been removed from the market because they couldn't detect the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration issued the public notice on Thursday evening following several incorrect media reports RATs were ineffective.
The TGA confirmed only four RATs have so far been cancelled from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, with three being removed by their supplier.
The TGA only cancelled one product because the sponsor couldn't provide sufficient data on the RAT's sensitivity to COVID-19.
"The use of RATs to monitor for SARS-CoV-2 infection is a vital measure in managing the COVID-19 pandemic," the TGA statement said.
Victoria has recorded more than a hundred COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, and daily case numbers for the larger states are still in the thousands. Source: AAP / Joel Carrett
Meanwhile, COVID-19 data for Victoria shows 107 deaths in the latest reporting period, with 105 of those being additional deaths since July. Without the extra data, the most recent figure falls to two deaths.
The latest 24-hour COVID-19 data
- NSW: 14,927 cases, 22 deaths, 2257 in hospital with 65 in ICU
- Victoria: 10,898 cases, 107 deaths, 813 in hospital with 32 in ICU
- Tasmania: 1,042 cases, no deaths, 158 in hospital with three in ICU
- Northern Territory: 380 cases, no deaths, 58 in hospital with none in ICU
- Queensland: 9,420 cases, 17 deaths, 906 in hospital with 30 in ICU
- Western Australia: 4,423 cases, three deaths, 424 in hospital with 17 in ICU
- South Australia: 3,148 cases, eight deaths, 341 in hospital with 11 in ICU
