Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt made the announcement on the morning of Christmas Eve, and said the changes had been made to give people more protection against the Omicron variant.
“It’s no surprise we will be bringing forward the eligibility for the booster dose to four months as of January 4,” Mr Hunt said.
“Currently that means that we will go from about 3.2 million people who are eligible today to approximately 7.5 million who will be eligible as January 4.
More than 16 million Australians will be eligible by January 31, but Mr Hunt said people didn’t need to get the vaccine on exactly the day they were due.
“We have said all along, eligibility is the beginning of access, it doesn’t mean that somebody is overdue the very day they become eligible,” he said.
Australian Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly urged people to get their booster in the New Year, but said people didn’t need to rush.
“Throughout this vaccination schedule, there’s a sense that everyone wants to be vaccinated on the first day an announcement is made, that is not necessary and indeed is not possible,” Prof. Kelly said.
He said Omicron has caused a doubling of cases every two or three days, but so far that wasn’t being reflected in hospitalisations or ICU numbers which was “important”.
Prof Kelly said this wouldn’t impact childhood vaccinations, which will begin on January 4.
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