Key Points
- The federal government has updated its COVID-19 vaccination guidelines after it accepted advice from ATAGI.
- Vaccination remains the best measure to protect against severe disease from COVID-19, the health minister has said.
- Australians can get their free COVID-19 boosters at the same time as a yearly influenza shot.
All Australian adults should continue to get COVID-19 booster jabs but children in good health need not worry, new vaccination advice states.
The federal government has updated COVID-19 vaccination guidelines after it accepted advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group of Immunisation (ATAGI).
Anyone aged 65 and older and severely immunocompromised Australians between 18 and 64 years old is strongly encouraged to get a booster vaccine every six months.
All other adults are eligible for a booster every 12 months.
Immunocompromised children aged five to 17 can receive a single vaccine dose, but those in good health do not need a booster in 2024 due to a low incidence of severe illness and high levels of immunity.
Vaccinations remain the best way to protect Australians from severe disease, and on Thursday Health Minister Mark Butler revealed the latest vaccine advice from ATAGI.
"Vaccination remains the most important measure to protect against the risk of severe disease from COVID-19," Butler said.
Australians can get their free COVID-19 boosters at the same time as a yearly influenza shot.
Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the nation, the virus continues to ebb and flow through the community.
Australia experienced its eighth wave of the virus towards the end of last year.
Victoria's most recent COVID-19 surveillance report, released last week, noted that "there are low COVID-19 viral loads" in the state's wastewater. This indicates a lower prevalence of COVID-19 infections in the community.
In NSW, "COVID-19 activity has decreased across most indicators", according to the state health department's most recent fortnightly report.
were released in December.
