From September 2023,
Intern pharmacists who hold a certificate confirming competency to vaccinate following completion of an accredited training program and has completed any additional training requirements, is only able to administer a vaccine under the direct supervision of a pharmacist immuniser who holds certification to vaccinate.
Pharmacist immunisers must not supply or administer a vaccine and must refer persons to a medical practitioner if:
Information on contraindications and precautions are provided by:
All pharmacist immunisers must have access to these resources at all times when conducting vaccination clinics.
Pharmacists should refer any patients with a previous history of a serious adverse reaction or severe allergic reaction to a previous dose of a vaccine or one of its ingredients to their general practitioner for assessment to determine whether it will be safe to receive subsequent vaccination.
Pharmacist immunisers can administer combination vaccines provided that they only contain the antigens included in the NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards. These vaccines must only be administered to people in the authorised age range and in accordance with the recommendations of the Australian Immunisation Handbook.
Vaccinating children under 5 years of age can be more complex than adults as they often require a number of vaccines at the same time. Most vaccines that are required by children are free through either a stated funded program or the National Immunisation Program (NIP). These vaccines are available from GPs, some council or community health clinics, and Aboriginal Medical Services. Children will also likely receive medical assessment appropriate to their development milestones.
It is a requirement under the NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards to report all vaccines administered to the Australian Immunisation Register and for pharmacist immunisers to check a patient's immunisation history in AIR prior to administering any vaccine.
It is also mandatory under the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015 to report all National Immunisation Program (NIP) and COVID-19 vaccination encounters to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).
Vaccination encounters should be uploaded into AIR preferably within 24 hours from vaccine administration but must be within 10 business days.
Where a patient experiences an adverse event following the administration of a vaccine, these must be reported. All uncommon, unexpected or serious adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) or any event considered by the clinician to be significant following immunisation must be notified by medical practitioners, pharmacists or other health professionals to the local Public Health Unit (PHU) on 1300 066 055 using the National Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) reporting form. Additional advice is available on Adverse events following immunisation (AEFI).
Pharmacist immunisers must have completed a training course that complies with the Australian Pharmacy Council 'Standards for the Accreditation of Programs to Support Pharmacist Administration of Vaccines' (current version). The training course must be conducted by an Australian Pharmacy Council accredited pharmacy education program provider.
The pharmacist immuniser must ensure that they have completed training for all authorised vaccines that they intend to administer.
To administer COVID-19 vaccines, a pharmacist immuniser, in addition to the above requirements, must also successfully complete:
The pharmacist immuniser must review all relevant training modules when notification of updates are received.
Refer to Section C of the NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards for further requirements.
See the COVID-19 vaccine consent form.
COVID-19 information is available on the Australian Department of Health website.
A translating and interpreting service (TIS National) is available for people who do not speak English and for agencies and businesses that need to communicate with their non-English speaking clients. Phone: 131 450
COVID-19 vaccinations must be provided free of charge. The Australian Government is committed to offering every person in Australia access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines at no cost. Vaccination providers cannot charge to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine is free and the consult appointment for patients to receive the vaccination is also free. Charging a patient any costs associated with the administration of the COVID-19 vaccination (including booking fees) is a breach of the requirements under the program.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) advises that COVID-19 vaccines can be co-administered (i.e. on the same day) with an influenza vaccine.
Yes. Pregnant women without a medical contraindication or other precaution may receive the Comirnaty (Pfizer) COVID-19 vaccine or Spikevax (Moderna) COVID-19 vaccine at any stage of pregnancy. A woman with any medical contraindication or other precaution should be referred to a medical practitioner for vaccination. mRNA vaccines are preferred for women who are pregnant due to the amount of safety data available.
Refer to Pregnancy, breastfeeding and COVID-19 vaccines.
