Are you one of the thousands of Victorians who have rolled up their arms, helped your community and gotten your first dose of the safe and effective AstraZeneca vaccine? Victoria has now announced changes to the rollout, which means you can get your second dose sooner.
On Thursday, September 2, acting chief health officer, Professor Ben Cowie, announced that Victoria was reducing the interval between first and second doses of AstraZeneca from 12 weeks to six. The change affects bookings from September 2 onwards, at all of Victoria's state-run vaccination clinics. Victorians who have already had their first AZ vaccination can also rebook their current second dose appointment for an earlier date.
The decision to change the time between doses is in line with ATAGI's advice that the interval between first and second AstraZeneca doses can be reduced to between four and eight weeks during outbreaks. Professor Cowie said: "We are recommending six weeks to get that balance between optimal efficacy and getting as many second doses into people as we possibly can."
There are currently more than 50,000 AstraZeneca doses available in Victoria. You can book your vaccine appointment here.