Coronavirus: Australians need boosters to be considered fully jabbed; South Korea cases hover above 50,000 for second day
- A person’s vaccination status will be considered ‘overdue’ if they have not received a booster within six months of their second dose
- Elsewhere, protesters calling for an end to tough curbs continued to occupy New Zealand’s parliament lawns despite arrests by the police
Australian residents will need to receive booster shots to be considered fully vaccinated against Covid-19, although authorities said foreign travellers will continue to need only two shots to enter the country.
Australia’s national cabinet late on Thursday endorsed the revised guidance from the country’s vaccination advisory group to classify “up-to-date” inoculations as including boosters.
A person’s vaccination status will be considered “overdue” if they have not received a booster within six months of their second dose, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Australian officials have made vaccines mandatory only for some frontline workers, but many private businesses, including major corporations, restaurants and retailers, have made inoculations a requirement for entry.
The country is among the most heavily vaccinated in the world as a result, with 94 per cent of people above 16 double-dosed. Nearly 10 million boosters have been administered so far.
The decision to keep the requirement for visitors to two doses only comes as authorities prepare to fully reopen Australia’s borders, around two years after they were slammed shut to slow the progress of the pandemic.
Like other countries, Australia has been tackling the fast-moving Omicron variant.