Australians don’t have to get a fifth Covid-19 jab according to new advice

Australians will not be required to get a fifth Covid-19 jab as the nation’s top vaccine body releases its latest round of advice.

Australia is currently staring down the barrel of another wave of Covid-19 infections.

By the end of last week, health authorities reported almost 55,000 cases of COVID-19 across Australia, driven largely by new sub-variants of Omicron.

This is an increase of 47 per cent on week on week.

Some were speculating these stats may have led to a national adoption of a fifth vaccine dose.

However, that won’t be the case.

Today, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, or ATAGI, decided not to recommend fifth dose after “considering international evidence as well as local data.”

The country’s health minister Mark Butler anticipates new booster recommendations will be made in early 2023 as winter approaches.

All in all, five-and-a-half million Australians still need to get a Covid booster shot, with the chief health officer urging those who haven’t been boosted to roll up their sleeves.

It comes as ATAGI approves a brand new Covid vaccine for use in Australia offering protection from two strains of the virus – the original strain and the Omicron variant.

This will be available from December 12 for people 18 and older.