Quarterly childhood coverage rates are calculated by:
- Determining which children should be include in each age cohort, and
- Determining the ‘Fully Immunised’ status for all children in each cohort.
Coverage rates are then calculated as being the children in a cohort that are ‘Fully Immunised’ as a proportion of all children in that cohort.
Determining age cohort
A child belongs to a specific age cohort (e.g. five year olds) if they turned that age between three and six months before the end of the reporting period.
For example, for someone to be included in the five year olds cohort in the June 2021 quarter, they must have turned five between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021 i.e. they must have been born between 1 January 2016 and 31 March 2016.
Determining ‘Fully Immunised’ status
When determining whether a child is ‘Fully Immunised’, the following tables show the vaccinations that are assessed for each age cohort. A child is considered to be ‘Fully Immunised’ if all vaccinations for the cohort have been recorded in the AIR by the end of the reporting period.
One year olds
| Vaccine |
Requirement to be considered ‘Fully Immunised’ |
| DTP |
Diphtheria dose 3 + Tetanus dose 3 + Pertussis dose 3 |
| Polio |
Polio dose 3 |
| Hib |
Haemophilus type B (Pathway A*) dose 3
or
Haemophilus type B (Pathway B*) dose 2 |
| Hep B |
Hepatitis dose 3 |
| Pneumo |
Pneumococcal dose 2 |
Two year olds
| Vaccine |
Requirement to be considered ‘Fully Immunised’ |
| DTP |
Diphtheria dose 4 + Tetanus dose 4 + Pertussis dose 4 |
| Polio |
Polio dose 3 |
| Hib |
Haemophilus type B (Pathway A*) dose 4, or
Haemophilus type B (Pathway A*) dose 3 (if given greater than 11½ months of age)
or
Haemophilus type B (Pathway B*) dose 3, or dose 4** |
| Hep B |
Hepatitis B dose 3 |
| Pneumo |
Pneumococcal dose 3 |
| MMR |
Measles dose 2 + Mumps dose 2 + Rubella dose 2 |
| Men |
Meningococcal C dose 1 |
| Var |
Varicella dose 1 |
Five year olds
| Vaccine |
Requirement to be considered ‘Fully Immunised’ |
| DTP |
Diphtheria dose 5 + Tetanus dose 5 + Pertussis dose 5
or
Diphtheria dose 4 + Tetanus dose 4 + Pertussis dose 4 (if given after 3.5 years of age) |
| Polio |
Polio dose 4 |
Notes
* The vaccines used to determine the appropriate Hib Pathway (A or B) are as follows:
- Pathway A: ActHIB, Hexaxim, Hiberix, HibTITER, Infanrix Hexa, Menitorix, Pediacel, ProHIBit, Poliacel
- Pathway B: Comvax, Generic HIB, PedvaxHIB.
** Both Dose 3 and Both 4 are included in Pathway B for two year olds to account for previous changes to Hib rules.
Ideally, vaccinations should not be administered earlier than the intended time point as they may not be accepted as valid doses by AIR. If the child need to receive vaccinations sooner for extenuating circumstances, please contact AIR to discuss if this is acceptable.
Source: Department of Health and Aged Care website, updated August 2021
