With rising measles cases locally and abroad, it’s vital to stay informed and ready. Join us for a lunch and learn session that will cover measles epidemiology, who may be under-vaccinated (especially those born 1966–1994), free MMR vaccine access in NSW, travel-related recommendations, and how to navigate immunisation history records. Refresh your measles knowledge and help protect our community.
Date: 26 May 2025
Time: 12.30pm – 1.30pm
Audience: GPs, Nurses, Practice managers and staff, Pharmacists
Presented by: Dr Vicky Sheppeard, Director SESLHD Public Health Unit
NSW Health Influenza Prompt Pack
NSW Health has released their Influenza Vaccination Prompt Pack for healthcare professionals. This is a communication toolkit containing materials designed to be displayed in healthcare settings to help encourage uptake of the flu vaccine. The resources are translated into various languages and can be used throughout winter.
Order materials from the Better Health Centre free of charge.
Department of Health and Aged Care resources
The Department of Health and Aged Care has released a range of new resources designed to inform the general public about the benefits of vaccination. This includes a fact sheet and brochure outlining vaccinations available for adults on the National Immunisation Program, a fact sheet on the benefits of influenza vaccination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and a poster promoting maternal vaccination.
Order resources by emailing National Mailing and Marketing at health@nationalmailing.com.au
COVID-19
Updates have been made throughout the COVID-19 chapter to improve clarity of guidance, update immunocompromising and medical conditions list to align with other chapters, and remove outdated information.
People who are immunocompromised
The updated immunocompromised chapter offers comprehensive information and recommendations, with clear definitions and categorisation of the level of immunocompromise across various types of conditions. These include inborn errors of immunity, secondary immunodeficiencies due to medical conditions or therapies, asplenia, infants exposed to immunosuppression in utero, immunocompromised close contacts, and immunocompromised travelers.
The NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards were recently updated with key changes to:
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and immunisation experts have rejected unfounded claims on social media and elsewhere that the viral zoonotic disease mpox is a known side effect of COVID-19 vaccination. The disinformation was based on incorrect interpretations of the appearance of mpox on VigiAccess, and has been addressed and corrected in an AAP FactCheck item.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has published a new report that examines hospitalisations and deaths for people with COVID-19 during the first three years of the pandemic in Australia.
The report draws on the COVID-19 Register, which is the largest source of linked COVID-19 case information in Australia, to offer insights on hospitalisations and mortality, disease burden, and vaccine and antiviral effectiveness. The analysis underlines the importance of linked health datasets in illuminating health outcomes during major disease outbreaks.
NCIRS have updated their resource on the history of immunisation in Australia to reflect a range of recent changes in the immunisation space, including the discontinuation of certain vaccines and the availability of new immunisation products. The COVID-19, HPV, meningococcal, pneumococcal, RSV, and herpes zoster (shingles) tables have been revised to incorporate developments from late 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.
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