Third COVID-19 Booster or Fifth Dose Not Required Despite Surge In Cases, Australian Health Authorities Say

Australian health authorities have recommended against a fifth COVID-19 vaccine shot despite average daily cases having been 47% higher last week than the week before, said Health Minister Mark Butler at a press conference.
The authorities have urged eligible to sign up for their remaining booster doses amid growing cases, but remain 85% below the previous peak of late July.
Butler said the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunizations (ATAGI) had recommended against a fifth dose or the third booster, Reuters reported.
The recommendation follows 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.
Related: Moderna Says Omicron Tailored COVID-19 Shots Shows Better Immune Response Than Original Vaccine.
"ATAGI has considered international evidence as well as the local data around vaccination numbers and case numbers in the pandemic and decided not to recommend the fifth dose," said Butler.
"They noted that severe disease and death during that wave in Singapore was very rare for people who had had at least two doses of vaccine for COVID."
New booster recommendations will be made early next year ahead of the southern-hemisphere winter.
Butler also accepted ATAGI recommendations that Pfizer Inc's PFE omicron-specific vaccine be approved as a booster dose for adults; 4.7 million doses will arrive ahead of a rollout due to begin on December 12.
The company's vaccine for children aged six months to five years will also be approved for use on the severely immunocompromised.
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