Millions more Australians can get extra COVID-19 booster from today

An additional 7.5 million Australians are eligible for the fourth COVID-19 jab from today, sparking a surge in demand.

Anybody over 30 is now able to walk in to their local pharmacy or GP for a second booster, if they had their third dose at least three months ago - or if they contracted COVID-19 three months ago.

Pfizer and Moderna have both been approved for the extra jabs, which so far have been mostly snapped up by people aged 50 to 65.

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There are more than 250,000 Australians who are infected with COVID-19 at the moment but our health authorities say that number is likely to be much higher due to unreported cases.

Alongside that, an average of 300 Australians are dying with COVID-19 every week.

Health experts are worried about the ongoing third COVID-19 wave, which is being driven by a spike in the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants.

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It's hoped that the expanded booster eligibility will not only curb transmission rates, but also ease pressure on hospital systems.

Additionally, over-70s who have COVID-19 will from today be granted affordable access to antiviral treatments which have been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.