Some Ballarat vaccine providers have pre-empted ATAGI by offering early booster vaccines

The interval between the second and third vaccine doses will be reduced again at the end of January to three months.

The changes, announced by federal health minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly on Friday morning, followed a growing push by leading epidemiologists and some states to reduce the booster interval in response to emerging evidence on the Omicron variant.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said new evidence regarding reduced vaccine effectiveness against Omicron was behind the latest change.

"In the last week, in fact last night and the night before, there was more evidence that came around the protective effects of boosters, but also that waning element [of the vaccine]," he said.

"And so the best evidence [ATAGI] have got at the moment is for between three and four months."

But Professor Kelly also stressed that other health measures, including masks, were critical in maintaining a hold on the spread of the new variant.

EARLIER

Meanwhile, some Ballarat health providers are pre-emptively offering booster shots to people who are less than five months post their second dose.

UFS operations manager of primary care Danielle Treszise said booster shots were available for any person who had received their second dose more than four months ago, notwithstanding ATAGI's current interval of five months.

"We've had a lot of people who are at four months since their second dose coming forward and asking when they can have [the booster shot]," Ms Treszise said.

"If they're post four months, we're not turning them away - we're doing it."

Ms Treszise said they were particularly keen to ensure older people and people with underlying health conditions received their booster shot now as a priority.

"We know as the Omicron variant spreads a lot of people will potentially become infected with covid and could spread it to others who are not well protected," she said. "That's why we're really encouraging people to come in to get their booster."

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A spokesperson for Ballarat Health Services said anybody who was more than four months since their second dose or almost due for their booster was encouraged to enquire about getting their shot during this holiday period.

The approach taken by UFS to booster vaccines is not inconsonant with the most recent international data on the Omicron variant, which revealed vaccine effectiveness to be dramatically reduced in people infected with the latest strain.

It also aligns with concerns raised by leading epidemiologist James Trauer, who said the recent explosion in case numbers posed a particular threat to people aged in their 60s and over.

"When Omicron spreads through the community quickly - and there's every indication that it will - we're going to desperately need to have good protection in older and vulnerable groups," Associate Professor Trauer said.

"We therefore need a more proactive campaign around boosters, particularly for people vaccinated with AstraZeneca."

Professor Trauer, who heads the epidemiological modelling unit at the Monash University School of Public Health, said even if the Omicron variant proved less virulent than the Delta variant, it did not follow that a public health crisis would be averted.

"Even if Omicron is less severe than Delta, that's going to more than offset by the fact it's hugely more transmissible in otherwise immune populations," he said.

"You can have a much more severe epidemic with a strain that is less severe on average for the individual and that's very much what we're looking at."

Ballarat councillor Mark Harris, who is also an emergency doctor, said the Omicron wave would, in time, place the health system under acute stress.

Dr Harris said this pointed to a need to significantly increase government funding for hospitals and other frontline staff, to ensure patient needs could be met.

"What state governments have to do is commit to extra funding," he said. "That's not going to produce extra staff, but it at least gives hospitals the opportunity to maximise what staff they can get."

Dr Harris also levelled criticism at the federal government's refusal to endorse a national mask mandate, accusing it of needlessly politicising a public health emergency.

"The commentary from the federal government about individual responsibility taking over state responsibilities really demeans us all," Dr Harris said. "It's beneath the dignity of this country."

"It's left many people, particularly in the medical field, feeling so disappointed in our federal leaders."

The federal government's decision to reverse its funding cut to pharmacists and GPs administering the booster vaccine program has, however, been welcomed.

Ms Treszise said the restored funding - which amounts to $10 extra per booster jab - would enable many GP practices to fast-track the booster roll-out.

"That extra money will certainly help, because it will create the opportunity to do extra hours for a lot of clinics," she said.

But UFS chief pharmacist Peter Fell said the restored funding, though welcome, would not assist many pharmacies experiencing a pharmacist shortage.

"It doesn't unfortunately help our underlying resourcing challenges in terms of accessing pharmacists suitably trained to administer [the vaccines]," Mr Fell said. "But it does, at least, make the whole equation financially more palatable."

Mask mandates again apply to all indoor settings in Victoria except private homes. The Victorian government made the announcement on Thursday morning as the state recorded another 2000 cases.

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