The Department of Health is encouraging people to make sure their COVID-19 vaccinations are up to date in the lead up to the festive season.
The advice comes as surveillance data – from wastewater, and the number of reported cases and hospitalisations – indicates increasing community transmission of COVID-19 since mid-October.
A new COVID-19 booster vaccine was released on 9 December 2024 and is now available to Western Australians.
Director Communicable Diseases Dr Paul Armstrong said the new Pfizer JN.1 vaccine had been designed to target a different subvariant to previous vaccines.
"COVID-19 has changed a lot over the past year within Australia and throughout the world," he said.
"The new vaccine is expected to provide increased protection against the Omicron subvariants which are now circulating in WA."
Dr Armstrong said some people were at greater risk of severe illness from the virus.
"COVID-19 can cause life-threatening complications, particularly among older adults and people with underlying medical conditions," he said.
