Tuesday 5 July 2022 03:51 AM Covid-19 Melbourne: Daniel Andrews pushes for FOURTH Covid jab trends now

Daniel Andrews has declared there is a 'strong case' for health workers to be offered fourth Covid vaccine doses.

Vaccine advisory body ATAGI will meet on Wednesday to discuss letting all Australians get a fourth jab which is currently only available to over 65s and younger people with health conditions.

In a press conference in Melbourne on Tuesday, Mr Andrews said he was in favour of fourth doses for nurses, doctors and other workers in health settings.

In Victoria, health workers and some others such as aged care workers are required to have three jabs to keep their jobs. Mr Andrews did not say if the mandate would be extended to fourth jabs.

'I would just make the point that the pressure in our health system at the moment is acute,' Mr Andrews told reporters.

'ATAGI will wrestle with all of these issues and come up with the very best answer.

'The point I'm making is the pressure is acute now, and for health workers I think there is a strong case; at least that's what I'm told from those who are on the wards in the hospitals.'

However, some leading experts are warning that fourth Covid-19 doses may not help.

Existing vaccines don't work as well at stopping infection from the two subvariants of the Omicron strain - known as BA.4 and BA.5 - that are becoming dominant in Australia.

The strains - identified early this year in South Africa - are more transmissible than the original Omicron strain but have not caused more deaths or severe illness. 

Writing in The Conversation on Monday, University of South Australia Professor of Epidemiology Adrian Esterman said existing vaccines are 'unlikely' to protect against infection.

'Although current vaccines based on the Wuhan strain will still provide some protection against serious illness and death against BA.4/5, they are unlikely to provide much, if any, protection against infection or symptomatic disease,' he said.

Professor Esterman said Moderna's second-generation vaccine, which is currently in trials, would be much better against the latest subvariants. 

Health Minister Mark Butler said just last month there was no evidence a fourth dose of existing vaccines would actually help. 

'The benefits of the vaccine for younger people do not warrant the decision that they have a fourth dose made available to them,' he told reporters in Canberra on June 23.

'There's a general acceptance that there's no evidence right now that the fourth dose is particularly called for for younger people who don't have compromised immunity.'