Australia is set to reduce the waiting time for people to receive a COVID-19 booster jab, stated Health Minister Greg Hunt, amid record surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant.

Booster vaccine doses will be offered from January 4 to all aged above 18 years who had received the second dose four months earlier. The gap will be reduced to three months by the end of January. The minister said that these dates have been decided to provide the people with early continued protection. Most states had been requesting the government to make the booster shots available to more people in order to tackle the surge in Omicron cases. This month, South Korea, Britain and Thailand had also reduced the interval to three months.

The move came as the number of daily cases in Australia reached record levels on Friday. More than 7,700 new infections were reported, with the majority in Victoria and New South Wales… (Deccan Herald – Reuters, December 24, 2021)