
THE demand for booster shots is dropping off in Bathurst, as the percentage of people over the age of 16 who have had three doses sits at less than 60 per cent across the state.
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Moodie's Pharmacy pharmacist and proprietor Paul Jones said that while Bathurst people are still coming in for boosters, the level of interest has reduced.
"We're still doing quite a few every day, but it's only about half of what we were doing a month ago," he said.
"We've got Moderna and Pfizer as boosters, Pfizer's children, and we've also got Novavax."
He said that a lot of places no longer check a patron's vaccination status, meaning there isn't as strong of an incentive to get a booster shot as there was to get the first two doses.
"The only places it is really mandatory that you are vaccinated are hospitals, aged cares, prisons and a few other places," Mr Jones said.
"People who are trying to access those are coming in wanting to get vaccinated."
While people can get a booster three months after their second dose, Mr Jones has found that a lot of people are waiting up to six months.
Interestingly, some people who have never had a COVID-19 vaccine before are starting to show an interest in getting Novavax.
"Those people who were vaccine hesitant and haven't been vaccinated at all, we have done a few people with that as their primary and lined them up for the secondary dose," Mr Jones said.
Novavax is a protein-based vaccine that was recently approved for use in Australia by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for people over the age of 18 years.
Like other COVID-19 vaccines, it requires two doses, given three weeks apart.
The Department of Health has advised that people who have Novavax will benefit from a third booster shot.
Children are also able to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Mr Jones said that not many parents had brought their children to Moodies to get vaccinated, which he said could be for a number of reasons, including that children tend to experience milder cases of COVID.
He encouraged parents to consider getting the vaccine for their children and speak to their health provider or pharmacist if they have questions or concerns.
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