Millions of Australians are now able to access a COVID-19 booster shot one month earlier than expected, after a change to the national rollout in response to the Omicron variant.
The federal government has acted on advice from the vaccine advisory body ATAGI, and the wait for a booster has been reduced from six months after a second vaccination to five.
The decision to provide earlier access has been made to help slow the spread of the new variant — which does not appear to cause more serious illness — and to guard against any waning immunity over time.
ATAGI had been considering whether to reduce the waiting period in line with the UK government.
Just last week it advised there was not enough evidence to support such a move.
"There is no evidence to suggest, at the moment, that an earlier booster does of the current covid-19 vaccines, will augment the protection against the omicron variant," Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said on December 3.
But much more has been learned about the Omicron variant since then, including its transmissibility, and the advice has now been changed.
On Friday, premiers and chief ministers were advised by medical experts that the Omicron variant did not appear to be causing more serious illness, although there is still more to be learned.
More than 670,000 Australians have already received a booster shot.
Moderna receives final approval
ATAGI has also given the final approval required for Moderna to be offered as a booster shot, alongside Pfizer.
The Moderna booster dosage is half the usual dose and will be accessible at community pharmacies and health clinics, subject to availability.
The government recently bought 25 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, with 15 million of those slated to be used in the first half of 2022 as boosters.
"Australia's whole-of-population booster program is supported by more than 151 million Pfizer, Novavax and Moderna vaccines secured for supply into the future," Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
"Australia is well prepared to provide booster doses as approvals are provided by the medical experts."
