Poor booster coverage in Queensland may be driving a higher COVID death rate, suggests epidemiologist.

Promoting COVID booster doses is more important than ever as Australia is now reporting 40,000 new cases of the virus a day, says infectious diseases expert, Professor Mike Toole.

Speaking on a recent Healthed Going Viral podcast, Professor Toole said that while over 80% of the eligible Australian population had had two doses of the COVID vaccine, less than 70% had a third booster shot and much fewer had had a fourth dose.