Who needs a booster now?

Last Friday, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) announced a statement for the administering of the third dose as a booster to people who are severely immunocompromised. That was immediately circulated in social media as the need for a booster for everybody and about when that would happen. That is how misinformation and disinformation are produced which results in challenges in fighting the war with the Covid-19. Among the CALD communities with little English, the war is still more difficult to fight.
Clearly, ATAGI was making a statement on how to protect the severely immunocompromised people. There is a very clear definition of this group of people and nobody should mistake that as “everybody” unless their English is very poor. As earlier as on 23 September, ATAGI announced it will provide preliminary advice on the need and timing of additional doses in the broader population by the end of October. At this moment, they are still looking at the experiences of other countries.

In WeChat, we saw the mixing up of “boosting vaccinations” and “booster vaccinations” in many messages circulating. This is not unusual as most of the WeChat messages were translated messages produced by someone who knows little English. It is the translator who had misunderstood the message and began to propagate this as disinformation. This is an alarm to Australian governments that accurate and reliable information sources for CALD communities are in great need.
Yes, all Australian governments are “boosting vaccinations” to achieve the national plan of reopening. NSW has reopened today as over 70% of the 12+ population have received full vaccination. Within two weeks time, Victoria will follow suit. In order to be more effective in controlling the expected rise in infected cases jeopardizing our medical system, the more people vaccinated, the better the result. So “boosting vaccinations” is a priority.
But this is totally unrelated to the “booster vaccinations” announced by ATAGI for those who are unable to respond to vaccines effectively for various reasons. ATAGI estimated that about 500,000 people that is about 2% of the Australian population are eligible. Yes, the general public may need a booster but experts have indicated that it will be at least 9 months after the second dose that such a need may emerge.