00:00 COVID lockdowns may be a thing of the past, but certainly there is still COVID circulating
00:06 in the community. We're hearing anecdotally this is disrupting workplaces, sending aged
00:11 care homes into lockdown, but the health experts tell us that we are certainly seeing a spike
00:17 in the number of cases. We are expecting that the peak of this wave will hit around Christmas
00:23 time, so that will make it the third year in a row that we are getting a Christmas COVID
00:28 wave. Infectious disease researcher Brendan Crabb says around hundreds of thousands of
00:33 Australians currently have the virus. He says that it is likely that up to five million
00:38 Australians will get COVID over the next few months. Of course, the concern for authorities
00:45 at the moment is a declining uptake in vaccination booster shots, so the advice from authorities
00:51 is to stay up to date with your COVID vaccine boosters.
00:54 Shannon, tell us more about these new vaccines. So the federal government yesterday has approved
01:00 two new vaccines and they will be better at protecting us against new strains of the virus.
01:08 So the new Pfizer and Moderna XBB 1.5 vaccines, they will be available to the public on December
01:14 11. So over the next few weeks, the focus for authorities was really sending out that
01:19 message to go and get your COVID vaccine if you haven't already done so. And with a significant
01:25 number of these COVID cases and our new strains, authorities are seeking to keep these vaccines
01:30 updated so that we can be better protected against the virus. So certainly the best chance
01:35 to protect yourself against the virus this Christmas is to be up to date with your booster
01:39 shots and also that same health messaging we have been hearing of washing your hands
01:43 and having outdoor gatherings.
01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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