Winter COVID booster for at-risk groups, Vic to make mRNA vaccines

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has recommended an additional booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine to increase protection before winter for select population groups who are at greatest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and who have received their primary vaccination and first booster dose. These groups are:

• Adults aged 65 years and older;
• Residents of aged-care or disability care facilities;
• People aged 16 years and older with severe immunocompromisation;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and older.
   

The additional winter booster dose can be given from four months or longer after the person has received their first booster dose, or from four months after a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, if infection occurred since the person’s first COVID-19 booster dose.

ATAGI recommends that the rollout of the additional booster dose for these groups starts from April 2022, coinciding with the rollout of this year’s influenza vaccination program. Influenza vaccine can be co-administered with the additional booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine; however, if a person is not yet eligible for their additional booster dose, influenza vaccine could be given ahead of the additional booster dose.

Comirnaty (Pfizer) or Spikevax (Moderna) are the preferred vaccines for COVID-19 booster doses, including the additional winter booster dose. Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) can be used when an mRNA vaccine is contraindicated or a person declines vaccination with an mRNA vaccine. Nuvaxovid (Novavax) can be used if no other COVID-19 vaccine is considered suitable for that person.

The recommendations for an additional booster dose focus on protecting the most vulnerable groups against severe disease and reducing the potential burden on the healthcare system over the coming months. For other groups not listed, ATAGI says there is insufficient evidence of the benefits of an additional booster dose to make recommendations at this time. The Group also advised that there is limited evidence at this stage for additional booster doses to prevent transmission; this may change in future.

The recommendation comes just one day after the Australian Government finalised an agreement with Moderna to secure the production of up to 100 million Australian-made mRNA vaccine doses every year, with Victoria soon set to house the first mRNA production facility in the Southern Hemisphere.

First announced as an in-principle agreement back in December, the strategic partnership between the Australian Government, the Victorian Government and Moderna is set to ensure Australia can meet its ongoing COVID-19 vaccine needs, and any other new and innovative respiratory mRNA vaccines. It should also make Australia a critical regional hub for mRNA technology development and production, bolstering the local biotechnology sector.

“Moderna is a global leader in mRNA technology and has an incredibly strong pipeline of innovative products,” said Minister for Finance Simon Birmingham.

“By establishing its headquarters for Australia, South-East Asia and Oceania in Victoria, Moderna will be a key player in the development of Australia’s broader RNA ecosystem, which will help drive incredible economic benefits.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison added, “This next generation of Aussie-made, innovative health care will also support around 500 direct jobs during construction, plus hundreds of indirect jobs, with up to 200 highly skilled staff to work at the facility when it’s up and running from 2024.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Khunatorn

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