Australians as young as 30 will soon receive their fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, and the federal Health Minister has echoed ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr by claiming the country has "passed the time" for sweeping mask mandates.
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But some infectious diseases experts are calling for masks to return as Australia grapples with a COVID-19 surge driven by the highly-infectious Omicron strain.
Health Minister Mark Butler on Thursday confirmed 7.4 million additional Australians will, from next week, be eligible to receive their fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses, now specifically recommended for Australians aged 50 and over by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
Australians aged between 30 and 49 will also be able to receive a fourth dose if they choose to do so, but ATAGI believed there was insufficient evidence to suggest the benefits outweighed the risks among younger cohorts.
Mr Butler said dramatically expanding eligibility was "crucial ... to get[ting] us through the winter", assuring Australians there was "more than enough" supply in the system to cope with the development.
"Being up-to-date with your vaccines is crucial to protecting you against the risk of severe disease and particularly the risk of hospitalisation or worse," he said.
While the benefits of a broad program for 50-year-olds were clear, Mr Butler conceded the "evidence is not there" for 30 to 49-year olds and "so ATAGI has taken the decision to leave that up to the individual".
On Thursday, 60 per cent of currently eligible Australians - those aged 65 and over, along with some First Nations and immunocompromised people - had received their fourth dose.
Mr Butler said the government had not set a target figure for fourth doses, but pointed to Australians' strong uptake of the initial doses as grounds for optimism.
ATAGI also recommended wait times between doses be slashed from four months to three, with Mr Butler warning two-dose coverage was "simply not enough" protection from a variant driving increasing numbers of reinfections.
"Just because you had COVID earlier in the year, doesn't mean you're not at risk of getting it again with this third wave," he said.
"Vaccines are widely available, they're free of charge, and they will provide you with much greater protection than you currently have."
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman welcomed the decision, confirming there was sufficient supply in the territory to meet the increased demand.
"Check if you're eligible, and if you are, then make a booking at one of the 130-plus locations across the ACT offering COVID-19 vaccinations," she said in a statement.
The announcement followed ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr warning The Canberra Times fourth dose uptake would never reach levels of two-dose coverage, particularly among young people.
"I think the chances of getting 20-year-olds to get any more vaccines is almost zero," he said on Wednesday.
Mask debate
Several states were also reportedly considering reintroducing mask mandates in certain settings, as Australia recorded over 40,000 new COVID-19 infections. But Mr Barr ruled out following suit, warning mask mandates would prove "unenforceable".
Mr Butler insisted Australia had "passed the time" of sweeping mask mandates, though accepted they had a place in high-risk settings.
He suggested Australia's approach had shifted to relying on individuals to "act responsibly on the basis of good health advice".
"If you are indoors and you can't socially distance, give strong consideration to wearing a mask," he said.
University of South Australia biostatistics expert Adrian Esterman argued the vast majority of people would comply with mandates, though there would always be some who refuse.
"If you just ask people nicely to wear a face mask, they won't," he said.
He insisted masks continued to have an impact in slowing the virus, especially with stricter measures like density limits and capacity controls off the table.
"Those things are going to be politically too difficult for governments to put into place again ... [but the] thing about face masks is they don't impact on business," he said.
"The key there would be to introduce things that are easy to do for people and don't dampen down business."
That should be coupled with a full audit of air circulation in public buildings, he said, with air purifiers or high-volume air condition systems installed in premises found to be lacking.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 since December, when Omicron numbers exploded in the lead-up to Christmas, has raised the prospect of the virus becoming endemic.
Dr Esterman said Omicron was "dampening down" the severity of surges; its first iteration - BA.1 - drove 100,000 cases per day, with subsequent sub-variants leading to progressively fewer cases.
But the looming threat of future variants - which could "start the whole thing again" - meant it was too soon to describe the virus as endemic.
"I think probably this time next year we might be in a situation where you know we're better able to predict what's happening," he said.
The ACT business community was split on mask mandates implemented in December.
Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Graham Catt said previous mask mandates in the ACT had translated into a downturn in trade, with some chamber members reporting up to a 30 per cent downturn in trade
"In retail that did contribute to that lack of foot traffic, that lack of people," Mr Catt said.
"I think certainly in shopping centres ... having a coffee and then window shopping and browsing, certainly disappeared for a long time. Mask wearing was part of that picture."
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