Australian Medical Association says fourth dose mandate could ‘cause alarm’ among workers

The vice-president of the Australian Medical Association says mandating a fourth COVID vaccine for health care workers could “cause alarm” and she wouldn’t support it.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will push the federal government for all healthcare workers in hospitals across Victoria to get a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine, amid concerns over waning immunity.

There are no plans to mandate a fourth dose for healthcare workers in Victoria, but it is mandatory for them to be “up to date” with their vaccination doses.

Dr Jill Tomlinson said she “very much” supported the vaccine program in Australia, but stopped short of saying she’d recommend all health care workers got a fourth dose if and when they became eligible when pressed on the issue several times by Neil Mitchell.

“I generally support evidence-based practice, and at the moment ATAGI isn’t recommending healthy people aged 16 to 64 have the fourth dose, but I think anything we can do to support our health care workers, keep them at work, and make them feel confident in doing so is something to support,” she said.

Dr Tomlinson said she “wanted to be very clear” she didn’t anticipate further mandates being implemented.

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