Who needs another COVID vaccine – and who might be able to skip it?

COVID continues to cause serious illness in vulnerable populations. Australia reports two to five thousand deaths annually and more than one hundred thousand hospitalizations, primarily among older adults, pregnant women, and those with chronic diseases. Writing in The Conversation, Meru Sheel—an infectious disease expert at the University of Sydney—breaks down updated vaccination guidance. Adults over seventy-five should get a booster every six months; those sixty-five to seventy-four without underlying conditions, every twelve months; people aged eighteen to sixty-four with chronic illnesses, also annually. For otherwise healthy younger adults, boosters are now optional. The shift reflects broadened immunity: widespread protection from previous infections and vaccinations means most people carry some defenses, and severe disease has become uncommon in healthy populations.

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