As Australia passes 10,000 deaths from COVID-19, there are renewed calls for a fourth vaccination to be available to more people.
Currently, a fourth vaccination is only available to vulnerable people and those aged over 65.
Immunology professor Cassandra Berry from Murdoch University said the community needed more protection from the virus.
"I think a fourth shot should be made optional and rolled out, in the first instance, for those over 50 and then maybe even down to those aged 20-29, because we know they have the highest case numbers," she told the ABC's AM program.
Professor Berry said boosting immunity to COVID-19 is particularly important this winter because people are also facing a high prevalence of influenza.
"Especially as people are travelling now and the vaccine mandates have been lifted for international arrivals, we're becoming more vulnerable as our protective antibodies are waning."
Research data indicates a fourth vaccination produces a spike in COVID-19 immunity.
According to Health Department figures, rates of eligible triple-vaccinated Australians are at about 70 per cent, but fewer than half of children aged 5-11 years have received two COVID-19 vaccinations.
Deakin University's Catherine Bennett told Thomas Oriti on NewsRadio that, while most young people have had their first two shots, their vaccination rate was lagging from there.
Call for leaders to do more
Epidemiologists argue there is far more the government can do to protect Australians from COVID-19.
University of Melbourne epidemiologist Nancy Baxter said leaders were not doing enough.
"We've seen a number of politicians attend press conferences when they're clearly visibly ill, which is not sending a good sign out to the community in terms of what we should be doing," Professor Baxter said.
Griffith University infectious diseases specialist Nigel McMillan told the ABC's PM program a vaccine booster for Omicron would help, as would greater access to antivirals.
"I think we need to expand their use to people over 50," Professor McMillan said.
Antivirals such as Molnupiravir and Paxlovid are prescribed to people with mild to moderate COVID-19 who have a high risk of progressing to severe disease.
However, there are limitations to who can access those antivirals,
'Major killer this year'
On Sunday, Australia marked a grim milestone: more than 10,000 people have now lost their lives to COVID-19.
Of that number, 80 per cent have died since January this year.
Two and a half years since Australia's first COVID-19 case, Professor Baxter warned there was no end in sight.
"This is going to be one of the major killers of Australians this year."
Calls for fourth vaccination
Professor McMillan said the grim milestone was not getting enough attention.
"So it really has become hardly mentioned at all and yet, for example, you might look at the road toll, which is 15 times lower than this, and we see headlines, at least in my local area, about police urging people to drive slowly and [to] not take risks," he said.
If current trends continue, epidemiologists agree, COVID-19 deaths may top 15,000 by the years' end, making it Australia's second-biggest killer behind heart disease.
