Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said it was time for Australia to move towards a concept known as “excess deaths”.

He said in simple terms this was the difference between the number of people expected to die over a period of time, or as a result of an event like a pandemic, and the actual number of deaths recorded.

“On this metric, Australia has performed extremely well throughout the Covid-19 pandemic,” Prof Kelly told a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.

“Although every death from Covid-19 is a sad event for family and friends and as a country, this is an outcome we should acknowledge.”

Kelly encouraged Australians to continue to get vaccinated for the best protection.

Meanwhile, confusion and complacency is causing a large group of Australians to not come forward for their booster.

Covid-19 task force commander Lieutenant General John Frewen said the under-40 age group was lagging behind in booster uptake, which was concerning ahead of winter.

Elements of confusion and complacency regarding the booster rollout were a factor.

“It comes down to people being no longer as fearful of Omicron as they were with previous variants,” he said on Wednesday.

A new advertising campaign will be targeted towards the age group ahead of winter to encourage higher uptake.

“It’s really about reminding that age cohort that their social life, their fitness routines, their businesses, all of those things are underpinned by the maximum possible take-up of vaccines, including boosters,” Frewen said.