Australia recommends against fifth vaccine dose

Average daily cases 47% higher last week than the week before

Australian health authorities have recommended against getting a fifth Covid-19 vaccine shot, even as they urged those eligible to sign up for their remaining booster doses as the country’s latest coronavirus wave grows rapidly.

Average daily cases had been 47 per cent higher last week than the week before, said Health Minister Mark Butler at a press conference yesterday, announcing new vaccination recommendations. But cases remain 85 per cent below the previous peak, of late July. Butler said the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations (ATAGI) had recommended against a fifth dose after evidence from Singapore’s recent wave showed that severe illness and death were rare among the vaccinated and that a fifth shot had minimal impact on virus transmission.

“ATAGI has considered [all] evidence around vaccination numbers, as well as case numbers in the pandemic and decided not to recommend a fifth dose,” said Butler.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the Singaporean experience suggested the current wave would peak soon and that cases would then drop quickly.