Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Health
Tasmanians can be proud as we pass a major milestone today in the COVID-19 booster rollout with more than 50 per cent of people aged 16 and over having had their booster.
More than 220,000 Tasmanians have now rolled up their sleeves and boosted their protections against COVID-19.
Pleasingly, more than 96 per cent of Tasmanians aged 12 and above have now had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and over 60 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 have had a first dose – an extraordinary effort and one that is nation-leading.
The milestone follows recent advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) that people aged 16 years and over will require a booster to be considered “up to date” on vaccinations
The change will take effect at the end of March with people needing to get their booster within six months of their second dose before they become “overdue”.
We know that research shows the level of protection provided by two doses of vaccine against the Omicron variant starts to wane significantly within several months.
Getting a booster is extremely important because it increases protection against serious illness and hospitalisation by about 90 per cent, according to ATAGI.
Tasmanians aged 16 and over can now get a booster three months after their second dose of vaccine, so I want to encourage everyone to check when they had their second dose and when the three-month milestone arrives – please book in.
Thousands of booster appointments are available across the state at pharmacies, GPs and state-run vaccination clinics.
Hundreds of appointments are available this week at Launceston’s Old Transit Centre for Northern Tasmanians, and next weekend state-run clinics at the Burnie Arts and Function Centre and Hobart’s PW1 will offer boosters.
Specialist paediatric clinics are continuing to offer vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 over the weekends in Burnie, Devonport, Launceston and Hobart. GPs are also offering vaccination for children in this age group, including in our regional and rural areas.
We are making strong progress with boosters, but it’s important that we don’t become complacent, particularly in the lead up to winter.
It’s because of our world-leading vaccination rates that we’re seeing some of the lowest rates of COVID-related hospitalisation and deaths in Australia, and I thank Tasmanians for continuing to turn up and protect themselves.
