Bunbury doctor says Novovax will be in SW by March, but we should learn to live in a COVID reality

A leading South West medical expert believes the South West could have Novovax doses by the second week of March, but that once the Omicron surge eases we need to start living with COVID-19 within the next 12 months or face a “massive” mental health burden. Bunbury Brecken Health Care owner Dr Brenda Murrison also said while the number of people getting booster shots was increasing, WA should not wait to reach 90 per cent booster vaccination rate before opening our borders to international and interstate travellers. “We’re sitting at 98 per cent first dose in WA and our boosters are going really well,” she said. “But we can’t wait because then we would be getting a wave of Omicron in winter, and that would be disastrous.” Based on previous vaccine availability, Dr Murrison believes South West medical centres will start to receive doses of the Novovax vaccine a week after metro centres, which is expected to be on February 28. “Once that happens, I think we’ll see the percentage of people who are vaccinated increase again,” Dr Murrison said. She said vaccination remained the strongest tool to protect the community from COVID, but that other measures should not be forgotten. “We have to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible. But we shouldn’t forget about the simple things, you know, washing our hands, social distancing and masks.” Dr Murrison said once WA was on the other side of the Omicron wave, we should start living with COVID-19 within the next 12 months the way we live with the flu virus. “I think once WA has had its Omicron peak, we need to move back towards normal setting in everything,” she said. “This is an illness that is not going to go away. We need to learn to live with it in our midst, and do our best to protect the most vulnerable people in society from its effects. “We can’t stall peoples’ schooling - their lives - permanently. “We’re watching businesses fall over because they can’t operate as normal.” Looking at Omicron in overseas contexts, Dr Murrison said statistics showed higher death rates among the elderly, frail, vulnerable and unvaccinated members of the population. She warned there needed to be “a balance between health and the greater good”. “I think that the mental health side of things is a massive thing that we need to look at now,” she said. “If we don’t start to get back towards normal life, that mental health burden is just going to be so massive.”