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Australians Could Soon Need Three Covid-19 Jabs To Be Considered 'Fully Vaccinated'

Australians Could Soon Need Three Covid-19 Jabs To Be Considered 'Fully Vaccinated'

The National Cabinet is meeting tomorrow to discuss other options to combat the threat of the Omicron variant.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Australians could soon need three coronavirus vaccines to be considered 'fully vaccinated'.

At the moment, two jabs will get you the big green tick of approval and Aussies are being heavily encouraged to get a booster shot five months later for added immunity.

However, with the threat of the Omicron variant continuing to raise alarm bells for experts during the Christmas/New Year period, there are calls for the advice to change.

A National Cabinet meeting will be held tomorrow (December 22) to see whether the country's approach to its vaccination program should mandate a third jab.

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The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) is reportedly also looking at whether the window between the second and third jab could be reduced.

Originally, people had to wait six months between jabs and that was then shortened to five months. However, with the emergence of the Omicron variant, that could be reduced further to three or four months.

7News said there is concern that a rise in case numbers could be down to a lack of immunity in the community because people haven't been eligible to get their booster shots yet.

In addition to the booster jab potentially becoming a mandatory third vaccine, the government is also looking at other measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

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According to the Courier Mail, those options include mandating face masks indoors again, 'potentially retaining international border measures', and reintroducing advice to work from home where possible.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said people shouldn't panic and they are trying to find the best 'living with Covid-19' balance for the immediate future.

"It's not unusual that we would be meeting a little bit more regularly with Omicron being where it is," he said. "We'll keep fine tuning and calibrating the things you need to do.

"We always said in phase C, that there will be things that will still be in need, potentially for masks here and there and there'll still obviously be the need for testing and tracing in all of this."

He's also called on state and territory leaders to ensure border rules won't be ramped up just before Christmas.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Australia