Hey baddies, hope you’re all enjoying what is starting out to be a super hot girl summer. It looks like things are about to get real steamy up in this bad boy, with the news that a big ol’ Pfizer booster shot may be coming right into all of our arms.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has finally given the Pfizer booster shot a big tick of approval for those of us who are over 18.
But what exactly does this mean for us, and when can we actually get the fabled third shot to take a dive into our bloodstreams?
BREAKING: TGA has approved Pfizer for Boosters for people aged 18 and over. @9NewsAUS #auspol
— Jonathan Kearsley (@jekearsley) October 26, 2021
Well, according to the TGA, it’s all safe and dandy for the 18+ of us to get a third Pfizer shot, regardless of what our previous two shots were. Although they say that data is limited in regards to mixing AstraZeneca and Pfizer, the booster has still been approved.
The booster shot would be taken six months after your second, but as of yet, they aren’t available, so don’t go rolling up your sleeves so soon.
So, what exactly are we waiting for to get that sweet, sweet nectar of the Gods inside of us? ATAGI, of course, which stands for the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
“Further advice on the use of boosters will be provided to government shortly by [ATAGI],” the TGA said in a statement.
ATAGI still need to give their advice on the booster shots and give us some specifications, like who can get the shot and when. They’ll be meeting sometime later this week — like a high council of vaccine advisors — and Prime Minister Scott Morrison says that there will be a decision shortly after.
“The TGA approval which gives those booster shots for over 18, six months apart, we will be starting with those in the aged care facilities like we did with the vaccine program,” he told during an interview on Today.
But don’t worry – if you haven’t had your booster shot, you’re still allowed to enjoy all the freedoms for fully vaccinated people. According to Health Minister Greg Hunt, once you hit two vaccines you’ve achieved the fully vaccinated status. Booster shots are merely a highly recommended choice for extra protection.
“You are fully vaccinated at this point, and it’ll be added to the immunisation register, as is the ordinary course of events at the moment,” he said.
“The preliminary ATAGI advice, the advice from Professor Brendan Murphy‘s team, and the TGA, is that you’re fully vaccinated, but the booster is, as (TGA’s Professor Skerritt) has set out, just that – it adds to your protection.”
According to Skerritt, your protection from COVID-19 raises to 96% after a booster shot, so put it in me lads.
For reference, the US is currently giving out booster shots for those over 65, while the UK does them for those over 50.
At the start of the month, a spokesperson for ATAGI said in a conference that those of us who are immunocompromised should be getting three doses of the vaccine already.
“The third dose is intended to maximise the level of immune response to as close as possible to the general population,” ATAGI said in a statement.
“Protection from three primary doses in severely immunocompromised individuals may still be lower than the general population.”
Well, there you have it, folks. Guess all we need to do now is wait the playing game. See you in six months (maybe) at the booster shot line.
