A daily rapid antigen must be provided to every Australian free-of-charge, and those who received AstraZeneca must be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccine boosters, a leading expert says.
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Infectious diseases expert at UNSW Mary-Louise McLaws has warned regular boosters will required as long as the virus has "human test tubes" in unvaccinated parts of the globe.
The UK made rapid antigen tests - less accurate than PCR tests, but producing a fast turnaround - available free-of-charge in April, with residents able to order seven each week via the National Health Service.
Professor McLaws has called on the federal government to follow suit, arguing a "vital tool" had been "neglected" in Australia's fight against COVID-19.
Rapid antigen tests were only approved for use in Australia in November, and only made legal in South Australia on Friday.
"I'm really pleased that the penny's finally dropped," Professor McLaws said.
"Given that the taxpayer has been paying for PCR tests, the taxpayer needs to support [rapid antigen tests].
"Everybody should be given at least seven a week and for free ... If you want to use more, go ahead and buy them yourself."
Health experts have warned rapid antigen tests - costing roughly $10 each - were unaffordable for many families, but prices have continued to rise amid a pre-Christmas surge in demand.
And with queues for PCR tests already bulging, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has urged aysmptomatic people to instead undergo a rapid test to ease pressure.
Calls for rapid tests to be accepted for interstate travel were also growing, and Professor McLaws said authorities had been slow to appreciate their role in combating the virus.
"I can only assume ... they misunderstood rapid antigen tests. They're used to screen, not for diagnosis. They were never going to replace PCR [tests]," she said.
"Nothing is perfect in outbreak management, you bring a lot of infection prevention tools together to try to shore up all the holes."
'Be very careful'
Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday announced a staggered reduction in booster wait times, with Australians to become eligible four months after their second shot from January 4. That will be reduced to three months from January 31.
But with AstraZeneca requiring a three month interval between first and second doses, many who received it were at the back of the queue for boosters.
Professor McLaws said data showed AstraZeneca provided some protection against severe symptoms from Omicron, but recipients were "basically not protected" from transmitting it four to five months after their second dose.
Mr Hunt has insisted Australia had ample supply to cover the new timeframe, but Professor McLaws said
"Anybody who's had AstraZeneca needs to be prioritised if there are availability issues," she said.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in April recommended AstraZeneca only be administered to people over 50, before raising that threshold to 60 two months later.
The decision was based on the jab's links to an extremely rare form of blood clotting in younger people.
But the federal government urged young people to come forward to kickstart its sluggish vaccine rollout, and at least 900,000 Australians aged under 40 have received at least one AstraZeneca dose.
Professor McLaws also called for free boosters to be offered to international arrivals whose second dose was administered more than three months ago.
"This is very much a time to be very careful about the group that we are welcoming into Australia," she said.
"It's time now to start thinking about giving everybody a booster as they come in ... to ensure they're not bringing Delta and Omicron in because their vaccine efficacy has waned dramatically."
'Human test tubes'
The emergence of Omicron, which emanated out of southern Africa, has prompted a number of wealth countries to expedite their booster program, raising the prospect of regular COVID-19 vaccines as new variants emerged.
Mr Hunt on Friday said Australia had enough doses to provide five shots to each eligible Australian, with more to become available if Novavax were approved for use.
But the World Health Organisation has urged the international community to channel its efforts towards developing countries with low vaccination rates, warning uncovered areas were rife for mutations.
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And Professor McLaws conceded organising a global rollout quickly enough, to ensure immunity did not wane before it was completed, would prove "very difficult".
"It's it's not a problem with the vaccine, it's a problem with the virus," she said.
"Until we get the globe vaccinated, we're allowing the virus to use the human as a living test tube and learn to get around immunity. And so we will continue to see this for quite some time."
In the interim, Australians should expect regular COVID-19 boosters to mirror annual flu vaccines, but insisted the development would be "nothing to worry about".
"If you're going overseas, you often get one specific to the northern hemisphere because their virus can be different than [in the] southern hemisphere," she said.
"It's better to have your immune system triggered with a vaccine than with a natural infection. You never know how how you're going to manage that."