A woman died in her 90s from Covid and flu after she was unvaccinated.
She was among six victims of flurona, which occurred in Victoria in January.
The other 18-64 year old cases were all vaccinated against Covid. Only the death of an elderly lady in Victoria was recorded using the combined variant.
Victorians should get the flu shot as well as Covid vaccination, according to a spokesperson for Department of Health. This will help protect them from both influenza and other viruses.
The winter season will likely see an increase of COVID-19 flu cases, according to officials. This is because restrictions that had suppressed the spread of these viruses have been phased out.
Australia’s immunisation authority recommends that people wait for three months following recovery from COVID-19 to get their next dose.
According to the Herald Sun spokesperson, ‘Getting vaccinated against highly contagious diseases will not only protect yourself but also help ease the pressure on the health system.
Experts warn that three Omicron subvariants are now in Australia. Health authorities advise people with the virus to wait for three months before they get their next COVID-19 vaccine.
Associate Professor Stuart Turville, UNSW Kirby Institute has reported that Omicron subvariants BA.2.12.12.13, BA.4 and BA.5 were detected in Australia.
Officials warn that this winter will witness a rise in COVID-19 flu cases. This is because restrictions that had suppressed both virus circulation have been phased out.
Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation recommends that people wait for three months to get their COVID-19 vaccine.
This advice was issued last week and is applicable to everyone, as well as all COVID-19 vaccinations.
Professor Turville indicated that it was not yet known if the Omicron new subvariants are transmissible or severe.
Omicron BA.1 & BA.2 arrived markedly because they were able to significantly evade an antibody response via past infection or vaccination. However, the effect was much less.
Australia is likely to replace BA.1 with BA.2 by the new subvariants BA.4, BA.5 or BA2.12.12.1.
‘We will need to study this over time to see if their advantage is one of “fitness/transmissibility” and/or their ability to be more slippery to existing antibodies,’ Prof Turville said.
As with all variants in the human genome, disease severity is the most important parameter. Unfortunately this information takes time to collect.
“There are still many things that we don’t know about the virus and it could take many different paths.”