Immunisation Community of Practice

NCIRS have updated their community pharmacy resources regarding the vaccines available in each State and Territory in pharmacy by which vaccine/age. https://www.ncirs.org.au/public/vaccination-community-pharmacy

Updates have recently been made to the Handbook. These include updated influenza vaccination guidance in the context of COVID-19 vaccination; interim recommendations for extended valency conjugate pneumococcal vaccines (Vaxneuvance [15vPCV] and Prevenar 20 [20vPCV]) in adults and for people who are immunocompromised; and updates to reflect additions of 20vPCV in the table Vaccination for women who are planning pregnancy, pregnant or breastfeeding. A summary of these updates is available on the AIH website.

The PHN has developed a 2023 Vaccine Strategy to support vaccine providers to deliver safe and effective immunisation programs for people living within our region. As we continue to move our focus to business as usual, this guide will assist you to identify vulnerable people and provide ideas for increasing routine vaccinations. Please see the strategy in the "Documents" section in the Immunisation CoP.

World Immunisation Week 2023 is from 24th to 30th April with the theme of “The Big Catch-up.” This week provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of immunisation in protecting individuals and communities against vaccine preventable diseases.

The campaign "The Big Catch-up" is crucial as it arrives at a pivotal moment for immunisation. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on global immunisation efforts, resulting in a backlog of missed vaccinations worldwide. Therefore, it is imperative to address this issue by improving immunisation services, closing the gap and reaching out to millions of individuals who have been deprived of the life-saving benefits of vaccines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) 2023 campaign aims to address this backlog and promote global effort to vaccinate millions of children and restore vaccination levels to pre-pandemic standards.

The Australian Government has launched the ‘One more way you keep them safe’ campaign. The campaign highlights the importance of vaccinating children to protect them from serious diseases.

Australia has a strong National Immunisation Program (NIP) with high rates of childhood vaccination. However, recent data shows that routine childhood immunisation coverage rates have declined over the past two years.

Skipping or delaying vaccinations puts children and those around them at risk of catching serious diseases.

For the best protection, it’s important that children receive their free routine vaccines:

• in line with the NIP schedule
• on time, every time.

The campaign also encourages parents to:

• seek out reliable information about vaccination
• speak to trusted health professional about their child’s immunisations.

Learn more about the campaign, and access the resources at health.gov.au/childhoodimmunisation

Do I need to aspirate the syringe prior to administering a vaccine?

Current research suggests that there is no need to aspirate the syringe prior to vaccine administration. Please refer to the Australian Immunisation Handbook for further information.

The NSW Immunisation Schedule and the NSW Immunisation Childhood Poster have been updated to make recommendations for influenza vaccination of children 6 months to less than 5 years of age more prominent. These are now available on the NSW Health Immunisation webpage.

Both of these resources are available to order from the Better Health Centre at no cost. If you would like to order hard copies to be delivered to your practice please complete the Immunisation Resource Order Form.

Distribution of pre-allocated influenza vaccine orders has now commenced, however you should only schedule vaccination clinics once vaccines have been received.

Please consider using active initiatives to improve vaccine uptake in National Immunisation Program (NIP) eligible cohorts particularly children aged 6 months to less than 5 years of age who have historically had lower coverage rates than other at risk groups. Using reminder/recall systems to send SMS messages or emails to parents of children in your practice would be beneficial to inform them of the opportunity to have their child vaccinated.

Further information on the NSW seasonal influenza vaccination program is available on the 2023 seasonal influenza vaccination information for immunisation providers webpage.

NSW Health advised they will include a small flu flyer and 2023 basket stickers with your first influenza vaccine delivery. Additional resources are available to be ordered from the Better Health Centre using this form: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/Influenza/Documents/influenza-publications-order-form.pdf

NSW Health have advised that Zostavax forecasts have been brought forward in preparation for the influenza season. Stock has now been received and ordering restrictions have recently been increased.

Australia has observed concerning downward trends in childhood immunisation coverage rates over the past two years, particularly for First Nations children.

The Department of Health and Aged Care is planning a promotion activity from April 2023 in response to the decline in childhood immunisation coverage rates. The objective of this campaign is to reinforce the importance of childhood immunisation and prompt parents to ensure timely completion of the vaccination schedule.

The Chief Medical Officer has written a letter to immunisation providers to highlight this campaign as well as provide information to support providers identify children overdue for vaccination, raise awareness about immunisation and counter misinformation.