NSW Health is now funding a free dose of MMR vaccine for infants aged 6 months to 12 months travelling overseas to countries where measles is endemic.
The vaccine is now available to order for this age group via the NSW Vaccine Centre.
If an infant receives MMR vaccine at <11 months of age, the infant still requires 2 further doses of measles-containing vaccine, given at 12 months (or 4 weeks after the 1st dose, whichever is later) and at 18 months. These 2 doses are NIP funded.
The Additional Commonwealth and NSW-funded free vaccines webpage has been updated to reflect this change.
The National Immunisation Program (NIP) has experienced a short delay in the supply of Vaxigrip® Tetra until early April.
FluQuadri® vaccine will be supplied as an alternative for children 6 months to under 5 years until the supply of Vaxigrip® Tetra becomes available.
Due to the late addition of FluQuadri® to the NIP, vaccine packaging will not be labelled with “Government Funded Program – 2025” like other NIP flu vaccines. Immunisation providers must ensure this vaccine is clearly labelled as NIP-funded and only used for children aged 6 months to less than 5 years.
2025 NIP influenza program resources have been updated to include this change, including ATAGI statement, NIP program advice, NSW Health website, and the Department website.
For clinical advice, refer to the Australian Immunisation Handbook Influenza (flu) chapter.
The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) has introduced new age limit-related warning messages for some influenza and RSV vaccines when vaccinations are being reported to the AIR.
Immunisation providers will now receive a warning message (when using both software and the AIR site) if they attempt to report administration of Afluria Quad, Fluzone High-Dose Quad, Fluad Quad and Arexvy vaccines to the AIR for individuals who are under the recommended age limits for those vaccines.
From 1 March 2025, vaccination providers are required to report to the AIR if an individual was pregnant at the time of vaccine administration, via an ‘Antenatal indicator’.
Maternal immunisation is vital in protecting pregnant women and their babies from serious illness and severe complications from vaccine preventable diseases.
The collection of antenatal data is important as it ensures the AIR contains a complete and reliable dataset to enable the monitoring of immunisation coverage and administration and the effectiveness and safety of maternal vaccines and vaccination programs.
Read more on the changes and next steps here.
A new preprint study from the National Vaccination Insights project has given an expansive description of the most common barriers reported by parents in relation to vaccinating their young children against influenza (flu).
The research findings – a summary of which can be found here – are based on a national survey of 2,000 parents of children aged under 5 years in Australia. They may help explain the steady decline in vaccination coverage among children in Australia since the COVID-19 pandemic as well as inform future strategies to increase vaccine uptake.
While the flu vaccine is strongly recommended and free on the NIP for children aged 6 months to less than 5 years, NCIRS data show only around 1 in 4 children under 5 years of age were vaccinated against flu during the 2024 season.
The National Vaccination Insights project was established to deliver data and insights on vaccination barriers and drivers, to inform strategies to improve vaccine uptake in different populations across Australia.
The Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance (PAEDS) network released a large batch of new and updated data on children requiring hospitalisation for respiratory illnesses in Australia in 2024 and this year to date. The figures include data for paediatric hospital admissions related to influenza, COVID-19 and RSV.
The newly published respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) data – the first of its kind released in Australia – stretch back to April 2024, when PAEDS commenced its sentinel site surveillance for admitted paediatric RSV cases.
The network recorded 195 paediatric RSV admissions across PAEDS hospital sites in the 1 January–28 February 2025 period, of which 10 required ICU admission.
The abovementioned data will be updated regularly on the PAEDS site throughout 2025.
Updated resources
| REGISTER 27 March 2025, 12:00 pm –1:15pm | Triple protection: Vaccines for influenza, COVID-19 and RSV in 2025 Staying informed on the latest recommendations for vaccination is essential for immunisation providers as we approach the 2025 respiratory illness season. This NCIRS webinar will provide essential information that will support the delivery of government funded vaccines protecting against influenza, COVID-19 and RSV, as well as privately funded RSV vaccines for older adults, in 2025. The event will feature practical tips on delivery and maximising uptake for triple protection and an interactive live Q&A session. |
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