While it might be tempting to consider the COVID-19 pandemic over, experts are warning this is not the case. Therefore, Australians living in aged care are being urged to get their Covid-19 booster vaccine ahead of winter.

Less than half of aged care residents over the age of 75 are adequately protected against COVID-19. Meanwhile, in the community just a fifth of older Australians have received a booster jab in the past six months.

This is despite the fact that National Immunisation Guidelines recommend that all Australians over the age of 75 receive a COVID-19 booster every six months.

In late March, the Aged Care Quality And Safety Commission released a clinical alert about persistently low COVID-19 vaccination rates in many aged care facilities.

So, why is COVID vaccination still critical for aged care residents — and what can be done to lift vaccination rates?

Why is vaccination so important?

Infectious diseases expert Paul Griffin is the director of infectious diseases at Mater Health in Brisbane. He says that while the risk of serious illness from COVID-19 is much lower than earlier in the pandemic, it is still there.

“The COVID landscape has changed very significantly and many people now, rightly or wrongly, perceive the risk as very low. But in the aged care setting, the risk remains high,” Professor Griffin told the ABC.

In 2025, COVID-19 remains the leading cause of death from acute respiratory disease. This places it ahead of influenza and RSV.
Over the past two and a half years, twice as many Australians in residential aged care have died from COVID than during the pandemic’s peak.

In 2024, 92% of Australians who died due to COVID-19 were aged over 70.

As we enter the cooler months, the impact of respiratory viruses such as COVID is expected to only increase.

Anthony Marinucci is the aged care national chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He believes more needs to be done to protect those living in aged care.

“Most people living in aged care are quite complex in their medical needs, otherwise they would be at home, it makes them high risk patients,” Dr Marinucci told the Daily Telegraph.

“One of the major issues is a really, really poor vaccination rate. It’s really not good enough and it’s significantly contributing to the morbidity of these people.”

What’s behind falling vaccination rates?

Experts suggest the trend may be partly driven by people simply being tired of getting vaccinations. They believe the issue is systemic, rather than a simple case of vaccine refusal.

They also say there is a lack of awareness about the continuing impact of COVID on Australia’s elderly population.

What can be done to address this issue?

Robert O’Sullivan is the president of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine. He believes that better messaging could help to improve vaccination rates.

“Part of it is probably that COVID is a relatively new illness and we don’t really have any other vaccine preventable illnesses that require six-monthly vaccination,” he said.

“Going forward, we need to be very consistent with the message that just as annual influenza vaccination is a really good thing for older people to prevent serious illness and death, six-monthly vaccination for COVID — if you’re aged 75 and over or living in a nursing home — is really important.”

While we all want the COVID-19 pandemic to be behind us, it’s critical that we protect our elderly population from the effects of the disease.

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Article References

Bharadwaj, A (2 February 2025) ‘‘Unacceptable’: Doctors raise alarm as Covid runs rampant in Aussie aged care facilities’, Daily Telegraph, accessed 24 April 2025.

Willis, O (23 April 2025) ‘Low COVID-19 booster rates in aged care and older Australians prompt warnings ahead of winter’, ABC News, accessed 24 April 2025.