Courtesy of The Guardian, March 30, 2023...AUSTRALIA
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Our fourth wave of Covid
lasted longer than previous waves but led to less severe illness than the third wave last winter.
That was the key finding of a new report from the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, into the Omicron wave which ended in late February.
The report also coincided with the release of an updated vaccination guide from the World Health Organization, which said that strong population-level immunity due to Covid-19 infection means that ongoing boosting of the general population
offers little impact. The WHO recommends ongoing booster doses for high-risk groups only, bringing it largely into line with recommendations already in place in Australia.
More than 1 million Australians have received a booster so far this year, and around 70% of those are aged 60 and over, the health minister, Mark Butler, said Thursday.
Butler also announced a host of new measures to protect those most at risk, including
new aged care worker Covid-19 leave grants, to begin on 1 April. More than 160,000 people aged 60 to 69 will also have free access to the antiviral treatment Paxlovid under expanded eligibility guidelines from Saturday.