Covid jabs confusion

New wait times for vaccine as death toll rises

UNCERTAINTY over when people who have recovered from Covid can get a vaccination or booster shot amid quickly changing rules has led to a clarification from the state’s health officials.

A Hobart mum took to social media this week, saying she was turned away when she took her young child to get his first Covid-19 shot.

Staff said because the boy had recently contracted and recovered from the virus, he needed to wait three months before he could be vaccinated.

Many other patients lining up to get jabbed were turned away because of the vaccine timetable change.

“Our family all had Covid about two months ago. We had booked the vaccine appointment but were told the rules had come into effect on Friday,” the mum said.

“It was a bit frustrating because we had not been made aware of the changes.”

State health commander Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation had released updated advice regarding the interval required between vaccine doses.

“It recommends everyone should wait for three months after they’ve had a confirmed Covid infection before having their next dose of Covid-19 vaccine,” Ms Morgan-Wicks said.

“The guidance applies to any dose of Covid-19 vaccine and to all people aged five years and older.

“The next scheduled dose should then be given as soon as possible after that waiting period.

“This follows evidence the risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant is very low within three months of a confirmed infection and that by deferring vaccination, the level and duration of protection may be improved.”

Previous advice was to proceed with your next due dose as soon as you had recovered from Covid and were no longer displaying symptoms.

“Due to the evolving nature of the Covid-19 pandemic we cannot rule out further changes to the national advice and guidance as more evidence comes to light,” Ms MorganWicks said.

Tasmania recorded another Covid death after a man in his 70s died at an aged care home in the South.

This takes the death toll since the start of the pandemic in 2020 to 55.

Tasmania recorded 1096 new cases of Covid-19 in the last reporting period, taking the number of active cases in the state to 6321.

Twenty-two of the 49 patients in hospital with the virus were being treated specifically for Covid-19 symptoms. Two were in ICU.