Aussies could soon be rolling up their sleeves once more, with a major change coming to the Covid vaccine rollout by the end of the year.
Welcome to Wednesday’s live coverage of Australia’s Covid-19 situation.
Victorians are just a day away from enjoying new freedoms, with the state edging closer to its 70 per cent double dose vaccination goal.
The state recorded 1749 Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths on Tuesday.
In NSW, cases have continued to remain low, with 273 new infections and four deaths on Tuesday.
Follow bellow for today’s top updates. Keep refreshing the page for the latest news.
Vaccine boosters expected by Christmas
Booster vaccines will reportedly be rolled out across Australia by Christmas, with thousands of at risk residents already receiving their third jab.
The federal government has plans to launch a third round of vaccinations for the wider population in the coming months, The Daily Telegraph reports.
However, they will first need to seep approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
It is understood the third dose will either be a Moderna or Pfizer jab, with the TGA waiting on approval to administer its booster jab to the general population.
The publication reports an eight month gap between the second and third dose for the Pfizer jab will likely be recommended, meaning many Aussies wouldn’t be getting their third dose until next year.
It comes after Health Minister Greg Hunt announced a booster vaccine program for 500,000 immunocompromised Australians.
“Australians who are severely immunocompromised may have a decreased immune response to a Covid-19 vaccination and be more at risk from severe Covid-19,” he said.
“If you or someone in your family are severely immunocompromised, we encourage you to reach out to your GP or specialist to discuss whether an additional dose is required.”
Costly typo in Victoria’s reopening plan
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has apologised after a “typo” in his state’s lockdown exit road map declared that entertainment venues would be allowed to reopen once 70 per cent of the eligible population is vaccinated (set to happen by this Thursday).
The error – which was present in a copy of the road map shared to the Premier’s Twitter and later updated on the State Government’s website – said that along with pubs and clubs, 20 fully vaccinated people were allowed indoors or 50 fully vaccinated people were allowed outdoors at entertainment venues.
Having taken the road map shared by Mr Andrews at face value, the owner of Melbourne’s Comedy Republic, Kyran Wheatley, didn’t waste any time – organising and selling out eight shows for this weekend.
When he realised that it had been a mistake and the word “entertainment” had been removed from the road map, Mr Wheatley told ABC Radio Melbourne’s Virginia Trioli it was like “they’ve slammed that door shut on our fingers”, and that all of the shows had to be cancelled.
“I’m reading the Premier’s Twitter account right now, and it still says pubs, clubs and entertainment venues can open to 20 fully vaccinated people indoors, but late yesterday …[we saw] that the word ‘entertainment’ had vanished from the [road map] that was published to the Premier’s site,” he said.
“It was just a small crack in the door, 20 people just enough to put your fingers in, and it feels like they’ve slammed that door shut on our fingers.”
Addressing the matter yesterday, Mr Andrews said entertainment venues will open when Victoria hits its 80 per cent double dose target, adding he knew it was “frustrating”.
Nearly 600 kids infected in NSW in past week
Statistics from NSW Health show that nearly 600 children under the age of nine tested positive to Covid-19 in the past week.
Kids aged 10 to 19 made up for over 400 of the last seven days cases, while similar numbers were recorded in the 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 age brackets.
The numbers come as NSW numbers continue to decline, while Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) recently gave Pfizer approval to apply for the use of its vaccine in children aged five to 11 years.
While the Delta variant has spread at a rate five times higher than the virus in 2020, the majority of children have had asymptomatic or mild cases of Covid-19 – reaffirming that they are significantly less likely to pass on the virus to adults, according to research from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS).