Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that Australians aged 16-18 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines from the end of August.
As part of the national vaccine roll out, eligible teenagers will be able to make bookings for August 30th and beyond.
Despite the exciting announcement, Scott Morrison has said those wanting to get the jab will need to wait to secure a spot.
“I want to stress, do not make a booking yet. We will advise when bookings can be made. It isn’t today,” he said on Thursday.
The announcement comes as Australia hit a huge milestone in the vaccine rollout, with over 50 percent of people over the age of 16 having had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the latest vaccination data, 50.2 percent of eligible people have had at least a first dose, while 28.2 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The change in vaccine rules comes as the Pfizer jab will now be eligible for anyone under the age of 40 from August 30th, in an attempt to boost vaccine numbers.
“We decided to go all the way through the 16-year-olds to 39-year-olds, [there are] some 8.6 million Australians in the group,” Mr Morrison said.
In addition, those aged 16 to 39 living in 12 Sydney virus hot spots were on Thursday given priority access to 530,000 Pfizer doses.
Scott Morrison said he is waiting for more advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) before opening the age bracket to include 12-15 year olds.
“One of the best ways to protect your children is to get vaccinated yourself. That was one of the clear pieces of advice coming out of the Doherty Institute modelling,” Mr Morrison said.
The decisions come amid the continuing rising numbers of the deadly Delta strain showing in younger Australians.
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