New COVID-19 vaccines designed to target the “Kraken” subvariant of Omicron have reached pharmacy shelves in Australia, as the country deals with increasing case numbers and the prospect of another wave of the pandemic.
The XBB 1.5 shots, recently approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), can serve as both a primary immunisation dose and a booster.
The monovalent vaccines are manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna. The former offers two formulations for different age groups, including one for patients aged 5-12, while Moderna’s shot is for individuals aged 12 and older.
The vaccine available from Dec. 11 targets the strain of COVID-19 currently circulating in the community, according to the Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President Trent Twomey.
“With COVID-19 cases on the rise, it is important anyone who is due for their vaccination does so as soon as they can at their local community pharmacy,” Mr. Twomey said.
“Health authorities have recommended vaccines move away from formulations which target the original or ancestral strain.”
However, he said that existing vaccines still offer protection against severe symptoms.
Out of Emergency Phase
Australians are enduring their sixth wave of Omicron since the strain hit the country’s shores at the end of 2021, according to Federal Health Minister Mark Butler.“This is our third one for this year. Each of the waves have been less severe in terms of hospitalisations, outbreaks in aged care, ICU, and so on,” he told the ABC.
“My sense is that we’ve probably peaked, and we’ll start to decrease.”
He said that despite the World Health Organisation’s withdrawal of its declaration of an international emergency, it has been clear the pandemic has not gone away.
“We are in the festive season. There’s lots of lots of parties and so forth and so that possibility that that transmission will happen is certainly there,” Mr. Butler said.
“We’re getting better every single time at how we manage it in hospital systems and in aged care facilities.”
Regardless, he was still worried about the current vaccination rates.
“I am concerned the booster rate is not what we saw in the first few years of the pandemic. I’m particularly concerned that older Australians get out there and get their booster. They are more vulnerable to severe disease from COVID than the general population,” he said.
“We’ve got new vaccines through. They’re the cutting-edge, most up-to-date vaccines. But frankly, the vaccines that are currently in pharmacies and in general practice are also very, very effective at protecting you from severe disease or death.
“Being up to date with your booster, particularly if you’re over 65 or if you’re younger than that and have some compromise to your immunity is very, very important.”
