Oz expands 4th dose roll-out amid fresh Omicron threat
Australia said on Thursday it would expand the roll-out of the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines from next week as it battles a steady rise in hospital admissions fuelled by the highly transmissible new Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5.
The new sub-variants have now become the dominant coronavirus strains in several countries, with pandemic experts warning they could lead to more hospitalisations and deaths because they spread more quickly than other coronavirus variants.
New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, warned it was experiencing a fresh wave of infections driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants. Meanwhile, Victoria said these have become the dominant strains in the state.
“The pandemic is not over, we are entering a third wave that is placing enormous pressure on our health and hospital system,” health minister Mark Butler said during a media briefing.
About 4,000 people are currently in hospitals in Australia suffering from Covid, the biggest count since early February, authorities said, when Australia endured its previous significant
Omicron outbreak.
From Monday, people aged above 30 will be eligible for the fourth dose, Butler said, after Australia’s immunisation advisory group updated its recommendations.
The changes will make more than 7 million people eligible for their second booster shot. The vaccination has been restricted up to now to people above 65 or with serious illness.
Millions line up for testing in Shanghai
Millions in Shanghai queued up for a third day of mass Covid-19 testing on Thursday as authorities in several Chinese cities scrambled to stamp out new outbreaks that have rekindled worries about growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Shanghai in particular wants to prevent a repeat of the twomonth lockdown that caused great economic loss and mental stress to its 25 million residents and disrupted global supply chains and international trade in April and May.
Overall, mainland China reported 338 new local cases for Wednesday, down from 353, with no new deaths.