National COVID-19 update: ATAGI recommends an additional booster dose for residents of disability care facilities
What you need to know
- To increase vaccine protection, an additional booster is recommended for residents of disability accommodation
- An additional booster is also recommended for adults over the age of 65, residents of aged care facilities, people who are severely immunocompromised, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the age of 50
- The additional winter booster can be given from four months after a person has received their first booster or after a person has had COVID-19 (if this was after they received their first booster)
- It is recommended that the rollout occurs in April 2022 alongside the rollout of the 2022 flu vaccine
This includes residents of disability accommodation, people over the age of 65, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the age of 50. An additional booster is also recommended for people aged 16 years and older who are severely immunocompromised (find the list here).
The additional booster can be given four months after an individual has received their first booster dose. It can also be given four months from a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis if this occurred since the person’s first booster.
Where a person is eligible for their additional booster, the flu and COVID-19 vaccines can be co-administered. Where this is not the case, the flu vaccine can be given ahead of the booster.
Pfizer or Moderna are the preferred vaccines for this booster. Other vaccines can be considered where there are contraindications present.
At this stage a second booster is not recommended for other population groups (including other NDIS participants or workers who do not fall into the recommended groups). However, ATAGI will continue to monitor the situation.
Any person aged 16 and older who has not received their first booster yet should receive this as soon as possible.
Providers of certain supports are able to claim $75 where they support a participant to receive their booster.
NDS will be hosting a national webinar in partnership with the Department of Social Services, Department of Heath, and NDIA to discuss other steps that providers can take to support their participants, workforce, and organisations prepare for winter. Registrations for this webinar will open shortly.
Useful links
- For Providers - COVID-19 | NDIS website
- Australian Government Department of Health - Disability Provider Alerts
- Australian Government Department of Health - Providing disability support services during COVID-19
- NDS COVID-19 hub for information and resources including PPE
