Dr Nick Coatsworth claims Omicron 'clearly not' more dangerous than flu.
Former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth has claimed the omicron variant of Covid is 'clearly not' more dangerous than the flu.
Dr Coatsworth said people without pre-existing medical conditions had little to fear from the milder strain once vaccinated and most wouldn't need booster shots. The Canberra infectious disease physician earlier told Daily Mail Australia the time had come to stop wearing masks and predicted the pandemic would end in 2022.
'No, it's not. It's clearly not,' he told Sky News when asked if Omicron was more dangerous than seasonal flu.
Dr Coatsworth claimed Covid booster shots were only necessary for vulnerable or elderly Australians and those with chronic illnesses.
'Young, fit, healthy adults and kids, their risk was so low anyway that if you take it from 0.007 to 0.001 per cent – I'm using those numbers to demonstrate the effect, I'd have to get the actual numbers for you,' he said.
'So, for the booster perspective, from the disease perspective, this is an illness that will very rarely cause harm to young, fit, healthy adults and kids,' he said.
This is despite the waning of Delta and Omicron waves in Europe and Israel being correlated with the rollout of booster shots.
Booster shots are mandated for workers in 'high risk' settings - such as hospitals, aged care, schools and prisons, in most states across Australia.
The Federal Government updated its vaccine policy last week on the advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).
Australians will no longer be classed as 'up to date' on their Covid vaccinations if they have not had a booster six months after their second dose.
Dr Nick Coatsworth has also called to end mask wearing as the nation enters its second year living with the virus.
'I think the tide has turned on masks. People recognise they had a place at a time of uncertainty, but are appropriately reassessing their value especially in schools,' he tweeted on Tuesday.
The top doctor has been outspoken about Australia's route out of the pandemic believing community-wide restrictions weren't fair on the rest of the community, who are already protected by a robust health care system alongside mass vaccination.
Speaking with 2GB radio on Wednesday, Dr Coatsworth said during the uncertainty of 2020 - when there was more severe strains of the virus and no vaccine - measures had been implemented that had 'minimal benefit' in curtailing new infections.
'When you drop restrictions the first ones you drop are the ones without any evidence-based, and there's no evidence-based for masks in schools,' he said.
'We have to be honest with the Australian community about that, if we're not, when we need to dial-up the level of restrictions in the future - which I think is unlikely - you'll start losing people.'
He recommended the 'low value interventions' be ditched first with masks in schools the first to be scrapped.
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