NIP eligibility

Eligibility criteria for National Immunisation Program vaccines: Access to free NIP vaccines requires a person to hold or be eligible for a Medicare card.

Latest NIP Updates

HPV vaccine – NIP changes in 2023

From 6 February 2023, the dose schedule for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine changed to a single dose, and eligibility for the catch-up program will be extended up to and including 25 years of age under the National Immunisation Program (NIP).

See Factsheet – 6 February 2023

Funded vaccines

NIP vaccines (NIP funded)

Access to free National Immunisation Program vaccines requires a person to hold or be eligible for a Medicare card.

• NSW Immunisation Schedule updated March 2023 – NSW Health no longer supplies printed copies
• Poster: A3 NSW Childhood Immunisation Schedule – order form
• Poster: Recommended sites for childhood vaccination in NSW
• Pneumococcal funding – July 2021
• Tear off pad: Following vaccination – what to expect

Funded catch-up vaccine (NIP funded)

• Catch up vaccines for 10 to 19 years
  
• Catch-up vaccines for 20 years and over (for refugees and humanitarian entrants)

Funded NSW vaccine (NSW Health funded)

• Additional vaccines provided free in NSW

Recommended vaccines (includes non-funded)

Recommended vaccines

• Recommended vaccines: For Australians – NCIRS
• Recommended vaccines: For Indigenous Australians – NCIRS
• Recommended vaccines: For at-risk Australians – NCIRS
• Recommended vaccines in Pregnancy: Influenza and pertussis vaccination in pregnancy – Clinical Advice
• Vaccination for health ageing (50 years and over) – Australian Immunisation Handbook

Additional recommended vaccines for at-risk patients

• Australian Immunisation Handbook | Vaccination for carers
• Australian Immunisation Handbook | Vaccination for adults (over 50 years)
• Australian Immunisation Handbook | Vaccination for people working with animals
• Australian Immunisation Handbook | Vaccination for occupational risk
• Australian Immunisation Handbook | Vaccination of migrants & refugees
• Australian Immunisation Handbook | Vaccination in pregnancy & breastfeeding

Ukrainians in NSW: Immunisation and health care access 

English

• Free catch-up immunisation for Ukrainian children, teenagers and adults (in English)
• Free public health care for Ukrainians in NSW (in English)

Ukrainian

• Free catch-up immunisation for Ukrainian children, teenagers and adults (in Ukrainian) 
• Free public health care for Ukrainians in NSW (in Ukrainian)

NSW immunisation schedule

• NSW Immunisation Schedule (October 2021)
• NSW Childhood vaccines poster
• NSW Health immunisation resources – order form

Additional funded vaccines in NSW 

• Additional vaccines provided free in NSW

NSW General Practice Immunisation Toolkit

• Immunisation Toolkit for General Practices
• NSW Health have developed this Toolkit to support general practices  to implement the NSW Immunisation Program.

NSW Health – Immunisation providers

Australian Immunisation Handbook

• Download Handbook App on your mobile phone
• Digital Handbook – online version for your computer
• Pre-vaccination checklist
• Catch-up Calculator (for <10 years) 
• Poster: Vaccination for health ageing

Vaccine Co-administration

• Co-administration of vaccines for adults: NCIRS guide for immunisation providers

Zostavax / Shingrix

• ATAGI: Clinical use of Zoster vaccine in older adults in Australia (October 2021)
• NSW Health: Zostavax Screening Tool
• GSK: Shingrix Product Information

Gardasil

• ATAGI | Jan 22 | Gardasil-9 in the school-based NIP

Pneumococcal

• Immunisation Coalition | PneumoSmart Vaccination Tool – Nov 2020
• DOH | Pneumococcal – Clinical advice
• DOH | Pneumococcal vaccination – Clinical decision tree
• AIH | Pneumococcal vaccination
• AIH | Pneumococcal vaccination for <5 years (infographic)
• AIH | Pneumococcal vaccination for all Australians (infographic)
• AIH | Pneumococcal vaccination for people with risk conditions for pneumococcal disease (infographic)

Meningococcal

• Australian Prescriber | Meningococcal vaccination by age and risk group
• AIH | Meningococcal vaccination for people in a special risk group (infographic)
• AIH | Meningococcal vaccination for children and adolescents without risk factors (infographic)

Measles

• Catch-up guide: Measles vaccination – NCIRS

Other vaccine information sheets

• Keeping up with vaccinations – What’s new, what’s available and who to ask for help (peer reviewed)
• Fact sheets and FAQs (NCIRS) on various diseases and vaccines such as HIB, Influenza, HPV, Meningococcal, Zoster, resources for adressing patient/parent concerns about immunisation and more
• NEW Measles vaccines for Australians (NCIRS)
• NEW Meningococcal vaccine 2019 recommendations by age and risk group – Australian Prescriber
• Q Fever information for GPs
• Rabies Vaccination and Post Exposure Protocol
• HPV fact sheet (NCIRS)
• HPV FAQs (NCIRS)
• Approach to influenza vaccination in patients with a history of Guillain–Barre Syndrome – AusVaxSafety

• Following up overdue children – CESPHN guideline

Anaphylaxis Kit

Minimum requirements for an anaphylaxis kit:

• Anaphylaxis response kit – requirements as per Australian Immunisation Handbook
• One kit per treatment room
• Check adrenaline expiry date

Anaphylaxis e-Training

The ASCIA anaphylaxis e-training course for health professionals 2021

• This course was developed by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA).
• This free anaphylaxis course takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete and is suitable for all health professionals, including medical practitioners and nurses.

Download resources 

• Anaphylaxis response kit – minimum requirements as per Immunisation Handbook
• Managing anaphylaxis after vaccination – poster from the Immunisation Handbook
• Anaphylaxis wallchart or order from Australian Prescriber: A3 poster

GP requirement: Basic Life Support

• BLS training requirements – and how often does this need to be renewed? RACGP

CPR requirements 

• Frequently asked questions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) requirements in general practices

Adverse Events Following Immunisation

What is an AEFI?

NSW Health: What is a serious adverse event?

Health professionals are required to report suspected reactions, known as adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) particularly if they are unexpected or significant.

Reporting AEFIs

If a patient has an immediate serious reaction or is unwell in the days after a vaccination, you must report this via:

• Submit AEFI reporting form to TGA or submit online form

and

• Notify Public Health Unit on 1300 066 055 or email MOH-COVIDaefi@health.nsw.gov.au

AEFI resource for parents

• Following vaccination – what to expect – order free pad from DOH

Vaccine safety 

COVID-19 vaccine safety

• TGA: COVID-19 vaccine weekly safety report
• AusVaxSafety: COVID-19 vaccine safety surveillance

General vaccine safety & resources 

• AusVaxSafety – Vaccine Safety Data 2019
• Safety data – AusVaxSafety active vaccine safety surveillance system

COVID-19 vaccine administration errors

ATAGI guidelines on the management of a range of possible vaccine administration errors, including when a replacement (repeat) dose is recommended.

General advice on vaccine errors

1. Advice relating to patient:
   • Open disclosure of the incident to the patient/parents of the patient.
   • Inform patient of any expected side effects and possible remedies to help with side effects.
   • Arrange follow up appointment for patient with GP – mainly as a health check, but also to maintaining the GP/patient relationship.
   • Give the Patient/Parents HCCC contact details in case they want to report a complaint:
     • Email: hccc@hccc.nsw.gov.au
     • Phone: 92197444
2. Advice relating to practice:
   1. • Usual incident reporting process within the practice
      • Inform the practice Insurer
      • Review practice policies/process to avoid error in future
3. Clinical advice:
   • Send patient to Emergency Department if patient clinically unwell
   • Contact NSWISS if clinical advice is required (eg revaccination advice)
     • Email: SCHN-NSWISS@health.nsw.gov.au
     • Phone: 1800679477 or 98451414
   • For accidental overdose see below.
4. Reporting
   • If patient develops any symptoms:
     • Complete an AEFI reporting form and
     • contact your local public health unit on 1300 066 055
   • For COVID-19 vaccinations, send an error report to Vaccine Operations Centre (VOC): COVID19VaccineOperationsCentre@Health.gov.au

Accidental overdose

1. If an accidental overdose occurs, it is recommended to observe vital signs and, if symptomatic, to treat the symptoms. There are no specific overdose symptoms to be aware of.
2. Follow the above Advice on Vaccine Errors – This error must be recorded through your normal jurisdictional medication error reporting systems.
3. For more information, the Poisons Information Centre may be contacted on 131 126.

Clinical tools

Catch-up Calculator (for children under 10 years) – Australian Immunisation Handbook

Catch-up guide: Measles vaccination – NCIRS

Clinical Resources

• Minimum intervals – Catch up for <10 years
• Minimum age for 1st dose
• Number of doses by age – for < 10 years
• Doses and minimum interval – Catch up for ≥10 years
• Hib catch up – for <5 years
• Rotarix – upper age limit
• HepB – for adolescents and adults

Catch up for: Adults and adolescents (>10 years) 

Table. Catch-up schedule for people ≥10 years of age

• Doses needed: how many vaccine doses a person should have received to be considered completely vaccinated
• Vaccine history: deduct previous vaccine doses received from ‘Doses needed’
• Plan catch-up: check the ‘Minimum interval between doses’ column to schedule further doses

The table does not include information on all diseases that adults may need vaccines for. Vaccination for special risk groups includes more details.

General guidelines: Catch-up vaccination for adolescents and adults

Catch-up for: special risk groups

For more details, see: Vaccination for special risk group

• Aboriginal
• Travellers
• Occupational risk
• Migrants, refugees, asylum seekers
• Immunocompromised
• Pregnant, breastfeeding
• Pre-term infants
• AEFI
• Immunoglobulin
• Bleeding disorders
• Surgery, anaesthesia
• Other: inmates, MSM, inject drugs, sex worker
• Asplenia – see also immunocompromised

Guidelines

• Catch-up vaccination – Australian Immunisation Handbook
• Catch-up vaccination for adolescents and adults – Australian Immunisation Handbook
• Table: Number of vaccine doses the child should have received by their current age – Australian Immunisation Handbook
• Table: Minimum acceptable dose intervals for children less than 10 years of age – Australian Immunisation Handbook
• Catch-up immunisations – Department of Health
• WHO immunisation schedules by country
• Foreign Language Terms – aids to translating foreign immunisation records
• Service NSW document translation service
• Free Translating Service – The Australian Government has created a free service to assist in the translating of personal documents. This service allows holders of certain types of visas to get key personal documents (such as immunisation history statements and other important medical information) translated for free.

Funding for catch up vaccines

• Free catch up on vaccines for under 20s brochure
• Free catch-up vaccines for all individuals aged 10 to 19 years (ongoing) – Department of Health
• Free catch-up vaccines for refugees and humanitarian entrants aged 20 years and over (ongoing) – Department of Health

Ordering vaccines

Order NIP vaccines from the NSW Vaccine Centre, once you have a vaccine account number:

• Log in to the NSW Vaccine Centre online ordering system
• Read NSW Vaccine Centre User guide for providers (Dec 2020)
• NSW Vaccine centre phone: 1300 656 132

Notifications

The Commonwealth has advised states/territories of a major international supply issue affecting the combination measles, mumps rubella varicella (MMRV) vaccines for children at 18 months of age. It is likely to continue throughout the whole of 2022. The NSW Vaccine Centre has:

• placed tight restrictions on the quantities of MMRV vaccines that providers can order
• advised that catch up vaccination of older children should be done with separate MMR and varicella vaccines

The use of the separate vaccines for children aged 18 months should not be needed but may be required down the track if the supply issues are not resolved.

How to apply for a new VAN

To request new a vaccine account, email your Public Health Unit (PHU) with your contact details:

• South Eastern Sydney PHU: SESLHD-PublicHealthUnit-IMMTeam@health.nsw.gov.au
• Sydney PHU: SLHD-Immunisation@health.nsw.gov.au
• Phone: in NSW calling 1300 066 055 will direct to your local Public Health Unit

How to update VAN details with the PHU:

• SESLHD form

Which PHU does my practice belong to?

• Check my practice postcode here

Forms

• Vaccine Account Number (VAN) application form

GP Fax from NSW Health

• Changes to NSW vaccine centre webpage

Vaccine Hesitancy training

Communicating with people who are unvaccinated against COVID-19

This NCIRS report summarises perspectives on COVID-19 vaccines of unvaccinated adults living in Australia who were interviewed in late 2021.

Recommendations for immunisation providers:

1. Seek out training to build confidence and skills around having conversations with vaccine-hesitant people such as the SKAI eLearning module
2. Use the “It’s worth the shot” Benefits and Decision cards to help engage and encourage discussions, and tip sheet on how to start the conversation
3. Use resources to support conversations: COVID-19 Decision Aid, Vaccination glossary
4. Make a positive recommendation to vaccinate
5. Be ready to tailor conversations to a range of positions on vaccination, from refusing to hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccines (including receiving a booster vaccine)

Yellow fever accreditation

Accreditation requirements:

1. Clinic accreditation: seek approval to become a Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre
2. Provider accreditation: successfully complete yellow fever training module

Accreditation for Clinics

To become an accredited Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre:

• Contact PHU for approval to become a Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre
• Or refer to the Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre application package

Ongoing requirements for Yellow Fever Vaccination Centres:

1. Maintain a log of all practitioners prescribing the vaccine and
2. Maintian evidence that all practitioners have successfully completed of the online training
3. Existing Yellow Fever Vaccination Centres do not need to be re-accredited

Accreditation for Providers

To become a yellow fever accredited practitioner:

• Successfully complete the ACRRM Yellow Fever Vaccination Learning Module
• Accreditation is valid for 3 years, after which the module must be completed again
• New yellow fever practitioners need to notify NSW Health by completing Change of Details form and emailing to MOH-vaccreports@health.nsw.gov.au within 7 days
• Existing yellow fever practitioners repeating module after 3 years do not have to notify NSW Health

Requirements for accredited practioners:

• Provide the completion certificate to the accredited Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre in which you intend to practise
• Only administer the vaccine at an accredited Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre
• If you no longer wish to provide yellow fever vaccinations please notify your Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre.

ANI – authorised nurse immuniser can only administer yellow fever vaccination with a valid order from an authorised prescribing practitioner.

Travel resource

Destinations | Travelers’ Health CDC

Further information:

• Yellow Fever Vaccination Course
• National Guidelines for Yellow Fever Vaccination Centres and Providers
• New Individual Training Requirement for Yellow Fever Vaccination Providers
• NSW Health – Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre application package
• NSW Health – Yellow fever vaccination centres and providers FAQs