Booster Mandate Ruled Out In Queensland Despite Spike In Cases

Despite cases rising, the Queensland government has ruled out mandating a Covid booster shot for adults and children.

As the highly transmissible BA-2 variant of the Omicron strain spreads rapidly among school children and the vulnerable, health experts warn new measures need to be considered.

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Infectious diseases expert Paul Griffin believes that Queensland needs to mandate a third dose of a Covid vaccine, especially as cases are escalating at the same time restrictions are easing.

“The evidence is clear, this is a three-dose vaccine, and that should be the benchmark,” Dr Griffin said.

“And we really need to do something to get the booster rate up because it really has stagnated at a point that leaves too many people in the community vulnerable.”

“The extra numbers we have been seeing are not due to the cooling weather yet – they are almost certainly due to factors including the spread of the virus in schools, the easing of mask restrictions, and the emergence of BA.2,” Dr Griffin said.

But Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday, that at this stage, the state government was not concerned with mandating boosters, while the spike is across school-aged children.

“We are not overly concerned at the moment, but we are monitoring the situation as we are seeing a spike.”

“We did expect to see this, and the good news is we’re not seeing high rates in hospitals,” the premier said.

It comes as the state recorded 11,018 new cases on Thursday, up 542 from Wednesday's cases, which was the highest figure for nearly two months.

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