Officials in Australia aim to begin administering COVID-19 booster shots soon in order to prevent a resurgence of infections as people of the country's two main cities, Sydney and Melbourne, begin to enjoy more freedoms following months of restrictions on their movements.
The COVID-zero approach Australia was taking this year to eliminate coronavirus infections has been abandoned in favor of suppressing it. The country is now attempting to coexist with the virus by increasing vaccination rates.
As the proportion of adults in Australia who have had two doses of immunizations approaches 75%, officials are progressively moving their attention to booster shots.
Since the start of the countrywide rollout in February, nearly 87% of adults over the age of 16 have received their first dosage of the vaccine.
On Monday, Lt. Gen. John Frewen, chairman of the vaccine team, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that a booster shot would be made available six months after the second dose was administered.
Frewen said advice from the country's immunization advisory committee on booster shots is "imminent." He also stated that health personnel, as well as employees and residents in aged care and disability facilities, would be given the doses in the initial phase.
In the midst of a boom in vaccinations, Victoria saw its lowest daily infection increase in almost three weeks on Monday, with 1,461 cases reported, while cases in neighboring New South Wales decreased for the fourth consecutive day, to 294.
More restrictions on gatherings and mobility are expected to be eased in Victoria on Friday, officials said. This comes just a week after Melbourne, the state capital, was lifted from its sixth lockdown during the pandemic. Sydney's lockdown was eased a few of weeks ago.
By then, double-dose vaccination rates in Victoria's adult population will have reached 80%, a threshold at which masks will no longer be required outside and people will be able to travel across the entire state.
In New South Wales, which is home to Sydney, the rate has approached 85%, with the state expected to reach 90% next week. Based on the state's reopening plan, the next set of limitations will be lifted on December 1, when the lockdown rules for those who have not been vaccinated would be ended.
