Booster vaccines, eligibility and travel bookings

I just had my booster in London. Easy, went to a walk in clinic, took my daughter, while I waited in the queue she enquired. She said I was living here with her for 3 months (slight exaggeration - 6 weeks), we were then told to go straight to the manager to ask if is was acceptable. From there we were sent straight through, this allowed us to jump the queue. Having my granddaughter there with us, in her pram helped and we were both jabbed quite quickly. All up it took about 50 minutes. I had Pfzier and was given a card with the details to show back in Aus. I will be following up with a call in 48 hours to NHS to enquire if I can receive more offical documentation of having had booster.
 
So this is the big rumour / conspiracy theory:

ATAGI know they need to drop the interval. It’s getting clearer by the day. But the country has zero chance to deliver a surge of vaccines over the next few weeks because…. We are all on holiday. Literally. It’s the bodies we need to deliver the jabs that is the problem this time not the juice.

I can almost guarantee in the new year they will drop the interval.

That’s my tin foil prediction based on medico goss and a few gin and tonics :)
Doesn’t help that we have a shortage of vaccine either.
 
Doesn’t help that we have a shortage of vaccine either

Frewen confirmed yesterday in his presser there is no shortage of vaccines. Some pharmacies and GPs didnt order enough, but so many places to get jabbed now its not hard to get an appointment.

State mass vax hubs are now doing walkins as well as appointments. NsW health has reopened extra pop up clinics in areas of high demand to supplement the hospital clinics too.
 
Frewen confirmed yesterday in his presser there is no shortage of vaccines. Some pharmacies and GPs didnt order enough, but so many places to get jabbed now its not hard to get an appointment.

State mass vax hubs are now doing walkins as well as appointments. NsW health has reopened extra pop up clinics in areas of high demand to supplement the hospital clinics too.
There isn’t a shortage right now but if they drop the interval to 4 months there will be. It’s going to be very tight for about 3 weeks before more stock arrives
 
So this is the big rumour / conspiracy theory:

ATAGI know they need to drop the interval. It’s getting clearer by the day. But the country has zero chance to deliver a surge of vaccines over the next few weeks because…. We are all on holiday. Literally. It’s the bodies we need to deliver the jabs that is the problem this time not the juice.

I can almost guarantee in the new year they will drop the interval.

That’s my tin foil prediction based on medico goss and a few gin and tonics :)
The Feds and States have now agreed to keep the clinics open. Our major one was due to close for two weeks - for maintenance. I was there two weeks ago and it looks great so 🤷‍♀️

SA must have plenty if they are considering reducing the time period as mentioned yesterday. We are just short of people!
 
Got my booster exactly at the 5 month mark as I'm off to the UK next week, the next day 5 months was made official for booster jab so happy days. Feeling ok now with both booster and travel insurance 😇
 
The Feds and States have now agreed to keep the clinics open. Our major one was due to close for two weeks - for maintenance. I was there two weeks ago and it looks great so 🤷‍♀️

SA must have plenty if they are considering reducing the time period as mentioned yesterday. We are just short of people!

No one will be able to drop the interval and administer over Xmas and NY because of the lack of workers on holiday. I guess they could announce a forward date and get bookings going…
 
Combination of lack of workers over Xmas and bring a month forward causes issues.
 
Bringing a month forward creates an instant backlog, coupled with increased desire for boosters and a reduced capacity to deliver with holidays coming up. I think ATAGI will drop further but only when current backlog is cleared.
 
ATAGI useless imo, they just watch what the rest of World do, pick n choose & give the all clear here to follow.

No way IMO do they do any kind of thorough testing themselves. They just see what happens elsewhere..... Yep we like look of that.
Don’t understand this logic that it’s only valid if it’s done here. Masses of data out there as to what works and what doesn’t with a much larger dataset than could ever be achieve here with limited testing/trials. Looking at the results from other countries to learn both from others mistakes (and what works) seems like a pretty smart strategy to me.
 
My wife and I received our 2nd vaccine dose on 15 July this year and the Govt has announced eligibility for booster shots as 6 momths from your second dose. This would make us eligible from 15 January 2022 and we live in NSW.

However we have a trip to Canada booked to depart 13 January. Regardless of Canada’s inbound passenger rules around boosters we’d much prefer the protection of a booster while traveling abroad.
I had my booster last Monday, just on 6 months from second AZ. I had absolutely no reaction or after effects from the Pfizer dose, apart from the tender spot on my arm for a few days. The booster dose was 0,3ml, not the 0,5ml full dose. Should I have chosen Moderna? Who knows in the long term. Next booster, perhaps.

I printed my international vaccine certificate two days later.
 
Last edited:
I had my booster last Monday, just on 6 months from second AZ. I had absolutely no reaction or after effects from the Pfizer dose, apart from the tender spot on my arm for a few days. The booster dose was 0,3ml, not the 0,5ml full dose. Should I have chosen Moderna? Who knows in the long term? Next booster, perhaps.

I printed my international vaccine certified two days later.

Look the data is thin and directional but AZ AZ Moderna is looking like the best combo, but only really marginally ahead of AZ AZ Pfizer. It’s a only a marginal improvement so you are all good I’m sure.
 
Read our AFF credit card guides and start earning more points now.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Moderna dose is now 0.25ml vs 0.3ml for Pfizer. Hence why more Moderna is accessible - more doses per vial
 
Moderna dose is now 0.25ml vs 0.3ml for Pfizer. Hence why more Moderna is accessible - more doses per vial
In the larger hubs I suspect the dosage isn't regulated for Pfizer as they are still doing second dose and vials already prepared for those. I had the usual dose.
 
Got my Covid booster from my GP surgery this morning (Pfizer to go with my 2 x AZ). Nowt else I can do for now.
 
An article by Alan Cheng the outgoing co -chair of the Atagi Immunisation Group with some extra thoughts on why early boosters might not be the way to go.

Bye Alan thanks for coming.

Please now add some members that can think more along the lines of population public health not purist clinicians who seem to be unable to seperate individuals out from what we need as a country.
 
Bye Alan thanks for coming.

Please now add some members that can think more along the lines of population public health not purist clinicians who seem to be unable to seperate individuals out from what we need as a country.
Sorry but Alan cheng is recognised as one of the better experts in Australia. What he says makes sense to me. I did post a trial from the UK that gave 3 doses of AZ. The highest antibody response was when the third dose was given > 6 months after the second.
I really worry when quite a few on here criticise ATAGI because they won't do what the poster wants. They operate according to the science which unfortunately isn't what some of us recent experts don't fully understand.
 
Sorry but Alan cheng is recognised as one of the better experts in Australia. What he says makes sense to me. I did post a trial from the UK that gave 3 doses of AZ. The highest antibody response was when the third dose was given > 6 months after the second.
I really worry when quite a few on here criticise ATAGI because they won't do what the poster wants. They operate according to the science which unfortunately isn't what some of us recent experts don't fully understand.
It's difficult, isn't it. On the one hand we have a renowned expert advocating an evidence-based approach and a degree of prudent patience until sufficient evidence becomes available.

<redacted>
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Become an AFF member!

Join Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) for free and unlock insider tips, exclusive deals, and global meetups with 65,000+ frequent flyers.

AFF members can also access our Frequent Flyer Training courses, and upgrade to Fast-track your way to expert traveller status and unlock even more exclusive discounts!

AFF forum abbreviations

Wondering about Y, J or any of the other abbreviations used on our forum?

Check out our guide to common AFF acronyms & abbreviations.
Back
Top