State and territory leaders have agreed to stand up state vaccination hubs and other clinics that have closed since the COVID-19 vaccination rush in October and November, as the Omicron variant continues to spread.
Key points:
- National Cabinet has agreed to review interstate travel testing requirements
- State vaccination hubs will be stood up again to increase booster rates
- Immunisation experts are still considering whether the interval for boosters should be reduced
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wanted to see vaccination rates for booster shots return to record levels.
About 200,000 vaccines are currently being administered each day, and about half of Australians eligible for a booster have received one — but several vaccination sites have closed since the rush in October and November.
Lieutenant General John Frewen, who has been charged with managing the vaccine rollout, said his goal would be to raise vaccination rates to 2 million doses per week in time for the scheduled opening of vaccines to 5 to 11-year-olds on January 10.
"We look forward to working with the states and territories to really ramp up the program in January and February in particular," Lieutenant General Frewen said.
The government said it had the supplies ready to administer those vaccines.
Mr Morrison said the payment to GPs and pharmacists to administer boosters would also be raised by $10 for each jab to assist with maintaining the program.
He reaffirmed that any decision on reducing the interval between second doses and boosters, which is currently set at five months, would be left up to the government's expert immunisation panel.
Some state leaders have pushed for the gap to be shortened to four months, and the West Australian government today announced it would mandate booster shots for workers who were previously required to be vaccinated.
Mr Morrison cautioned against eagerness to shorten the interval, warning making more people eligible would not help "get jabs into arms" and could in fact prevent more vulnerable Australians from getting boosters.
"The issue of the interval, and the issue of whether its three doses or two doses [to be considered fully vaccinated], are subordinate," he said.
"It's important, but it's not the main issue."
Interstate travel testing to be reviewed, close contact definitions to change
Mr Morrison said national cabinet had also agreed to reconsider testing requirements for interstate travel.
Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly warned travel testing requirements and subsequent delays in results were "interfering" with tracing efforts in some states.
Mr Morrison said state leaders had been asked to consider whether testing for interstate travel could be replaced with rapid antigen testing, or dropped altogether.
"One in four people waiting in those queues are not symptomatic. They're not a close contact. They're not even a casual contact. They just want to travel to another state," Mr Morrison said.
"There was a positive discussion, and the medical expert panel will give further advice whether testing was required at all for travel."
With testing sites in some states facing nine-hour queues, and results often not returned for more than three days, national cabinet also agreed to review definitions of casual and close contacts.
It agreed to work on a national definition of close contacts that was more relevant in an environment of greater case loads, as leaders accepted that hospitalisation rates were a more relevant statistic.
The country's chief health officers will provide the new recommended definition of a close contact within the next fortnight.
Morrison recommends masks indoors, but won't back mandates
State and territory leaders also heard that indoor masks in public places were "strongly recommended" by medical experts in the wake of the Omicron variant emerging.
Mr Morrison said while he would strongly encourage individuals to wear masks indoors, he did not believe a mandate was necessary.
"In the same way as we go into the summer season, people will be slapping on the hat and slapping on the sunscreen — there's no rule or requirement to do that, but that's strongly recommended health advice — it's in the same category," he said.
"What matters is people wear them, not whether they get fined or not."
Whether mask wearing is mandated is a decision for each state and territory.
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2021-12-22 05:22:20Z
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