In a press briefing on January 19, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews hinted at some imminent outcomes of conversations being had within the national cabinet – which is made up of all state and territory premiers and the prime minister – that could soon change the vaccination status of millions of Aussies.
"The health minister last Monday made a number of announcements for a number of different classes of worker... There’s every chance that we add to that list, for the best of reasons. We mandated a number of people, many people across many different sectors, a first and second dose, and I think you’ll see very soon, out of national processes, you’ll see the terminology and the recognition of the third dose be crystal clear… This is not an option, not an add-on, not 'a good thing to have'," Andrews said. "I think we’re close to a change in policy that will simply reflect the fact that in order to be fully protected, you need three doses, not two plus an optional extra, to in fact be fully vaccinated. You need three.”
A move to change the definition of full vaccination to mean three doses is in response to mounting evidence that the Omicron variant, which has infected hundreds of thousands of people in Australia in just a matter of weeks, is able to evade the immunity provided by two doses of a vaccine. However, three doses significantly increase protection against Omicron. This was evident from the vaccination status of the 36 people who sadly lost their lives from Covid on January 18. All but three of the 36 had received two doses of a vaccine, but of the 33 double-jabbed people, just three had received a booster dose.
While the now-dominant strain of the virus causes less severe illness in the majority of people, its transmissibility is significantly higher than previous variants of Covid-19, and the sheer number of daily infections now being reported is putting enormous strain on hospital infrastructures all over the country. As of January 19, 2,863 people in NSW were in hospital with Covid-19, 217 of which were in intensive care. While nearly 94 per cent of adults over the age of 16 in NSW have had two doses of a vaccine, just 27 per cent of adults over 16 have had three doses.
Unlike his Victorian counterpart, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has not yet hinted whether or not three doses will become the standard definition of full vaccination, but following approval from ATAGI, NSW has now reduced the interval between second and third doses from four months to three – the third time the interval has been shortened since a six-month interval was originally instituted last November. During the initial vaccine rollout, there were similar reductions in vaccination timings in the final quarter of 2021, when achieving high levels of vaccination became the primary defense tactic against the Delta outbreak. It remains to be seen, however, if vaccination passports and restrictions on people who have not yet received three doses, similar to those that were in effect until December 15, will be reintroduced.