There is a concerning level of complacency among West Australians towards a fourth COVID-19 vaccination as previous boosters wane and the state braces for another significant wave of the virus, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia warns.
The peak body, which represents 550 pharmacies across WA, said it was particularly important for the one in five people across the state who had not yet received their third vaccination to protect themselves and their loved ones.
WA Health recommends all adults aged 50 and older now receive a fourth dose, although it is not mandated, and a winter booster was also available from yesterday for people aged between 30 and 49.
The recommended gap between a recent COVID-19 infection or previous booster dose and a fourth shot has now also been cut from four to three months.
But in a sign of growing concern, the Health Department yesterday slashed the period during which someone who had contracted the virus was considered immune and not a close contact.
Based on advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, WA Health has updated its guidelines to show reinfection can occur from four weeks after recovering from the virus, rather than 12 weeks.
That means anyone who starts showing symptoms 28 days after recovering from COVID-19 must again get tested and isolate.
It also means the definition of a close contact has changed.
Previously, anyone who had caught COVID-19 could not be classified a close contact for 12 weeks after, but that too has been cut to 28 days.
The dramatic change in rules and definitions was brought on by the growing dominance of the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants in the WA community.
"BA.4 and BA.5 are making up an increasing percentage of our cases, rising to more than 60 per cent of cases in the last week," Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson said.
"This means that people who have had COVID-19 should again get tested and isolate if they have symptoms more than 28 days after recovering from COVID-19."
WA Health considerers the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants more contagious than earlier variants because they can more easily infect people who have previously been infected.
Dr Robertson last week warned West Australians to expect another "significant wave" of COVID-19 infections, probably above 10,000 a day, within the next six weeks.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA president Andrew Ngeow said first and second dose rates in WA were over 99 per cent, but people needed to keep going.
"What we're seeing out there is a level of complacency," he said.
"And my message is complacency will not win this war. This is not over.
"We're seeing the case numbers more recently increase for COVID and unless we make the right steps now and get vaccinated, we just don't know what the future looks like yet. We have to go out and do this.
"For a lot of people who had their third dose, depending on when they got it done, we're probably seeing a waning of its coverage.
"The recommendation from ATAGI is you get it done three to four months after your third dose. If you're eligible for that, I urge everybody to get it done."
Jenny Stallard was among the people trickling into the Claremont Showgrounds vaccination clinic for their fourth shot on Monday.
"I still think it's worthwhile, you don't know what's going to happen," she said.
"I've got a husband that's got heart problems, and I've got a father that's got cancer so I do quite a bit of caring for my father, so I really don't want to catch it."
Mark Taylor said he had been waiting for the winter booster to arrive.
"I don't want to get ill and it seems there's no reason to doubt that this is one way of not getting ill," he said.
Shane Rogers, a lecturer in psychology at Edith Cowan University, attributed vaccine complacency to previous experience of COVID-19.
"For many people, they've gotten through it fine," Dr Rogers said.
"Therefore, it can reduce their level of stress or concern around it. They're perhaps not as scared of the virus as perhaps they once were, which can perhaps reduce their motivation for continuing on with boosters."
He urged the government to keep reminding people the pandemic was not over and there were new variants continually emerging.
