Victorian Labor Government Announced more than 120 pop-up COVID-19 vaccination hubs during March Increase booster vaccination rates for the winter as new COVID-19 cases increase.
“Don’t rely on two doses to survive this winter. When the deadline comes, March will be the third month,” said Martin Foley, Minister of Health of Victoria.
The pop-up program targets key areas where the third dose is below the state average of 62% and areas where GP and pharmacy services for vaccination are low.
Currently, 60 pop-ups for March have already been offered, and the state government states that more than 600 pop-ups have been set since the beginning of 2022.
Omicron BA.2 subvariant dominates
The news that boosts vaccine intake comes from the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, where experts expect the new Omicron BA.2 subvariant to be behind the new surge.
Foley said the BA.2 subvariant “slowly but gradually claims itself” as a major strain in Victoria.
“In the weeks we’ve seen the Omicron BA.2 variant move from almost nowhere to the first report of at least half of the cases,” he said.
“It is consistent with international evidence and is expected to become a sub-BA over time. Two variants will be the predominant variants.”
Danish research Although the subvariant was more contagious than the BA.1 subvariant, it shows that vaccinated individuals are more susceptible to infection than unvaccinated individuals.
who Also, although there is no human evidence that the subvariant is more toxic than BA.1, Mouse research It is inconsistent with such a statement.
Australian microbiology professor Peter Collignon advises not to enforce further restrictions such as mask obligations and density restrictions, despite increasing public susceptibility to new subvariants.
“The most important parameters are death and hospitalization, which are not out of control in most countries where this is done.” He said at sunrise on March 16th.
Corignon says there is no “good evidence” of restrictions that have a significant impact on the control of infection, but Australians over the age of 50 should take booster shots to “make a difference” in disease severity and death. Said he advised.
He said that the COVID-19 vaccine is far less effective in stopping milder and asymptomatic illnesses than he had hoped for, but the vaccines are far less effective in reducing the risk of severe illness and death. Said it was effective.
“We need to live with COVID,” said Corignon.
“Zero Corona flew away long ago, which in fact means that we may have to accept that we have a mild illness.”
From March 16th 9,426 new COVID-19 Cases in Victoria and eight new deaths, on average 62% of eligible adults receive a third dose.
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Marina Chan is based in Melbourne and focuses on Australian news. Contact her at [email protected]