People living in residential care homes (RCHs), this includes residential aged care or disability home residents, are at higher risk of severe illness or death from influenza due to older age or comorbidities including:
All residents in RCHs should be up to date with their annual influenza vaccination to reduce the risk of influenza related complications.
The following programs fund community pharmacists to administer National Immunisation Program (NIP) vaccines in residential care homes:
The NIPVIP commenced on 1 January 2024 and provides funding to community pharmacists to supply and administer free NIP vaccines to eligible consumers in a pharmacy setting. The program was expanded on 29 April 2024 to allow pharmacists to claim a payment for the off-site administration of NIP vaccines for residents in residential aged care and disability homes. Read more information about the NIPVIP program.
ACOP began on 1 July 2024 and provides funding to community pharmacists and aged care providers to employ on-site pharmacists to work in residential aged care homes. The role of the ACOP includes administering NIP and COVID-19 vaccines to residential aged care residents. For more information visit Aged care on-site pharmacist | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
Mandatory reporting of all Influenza, COVID-19 and NIP vaccines to the AIR has been in place since 2021. Immunisers must check the patient AIR records prior to administering the vaccine and must record the administered vaccine onto the AIR. For more information about accessing and reporting to the AIR visit Reviewing vaccinations and managing vaccine ordering in residential aged care.
Appropriate consent must be obtained before administering a vaccine.
Verbal or written consent is considered acceptable as detailed in The Australian Immunisation Handbook and should be documented by the health care provider as per standard practice.
Aged care providers must also document the consent that has been obtained in the resident’s record. This is a requirement under aged care record keeping legislation.
4 core criteria must be met for obtaining valid consent:
Immunisation providers can find more information about consent in:
NSW Health has also developed an Easy Read companion document Consent to getting health care.
Vaccinating people with disabilities can present several challenges, but these can generally be addressed with careful planning and tailored approaches. The following resources are available to support immunisation providers:
RCHs can order their own vaccines if they have an active online ordering account with the NSW Vaccine Centre and a purpose-built vaccine fridge with continuous temperature monitoring.
If an RCH does not have appropriate vaccine storage, primary care providers delivering vaccination services at RCHs can order vaccines using their own vaccine account. Vaccines can be transported to the RCFH for administration, provided the cold chain requirements outlined in the section below are met.
Refer to Supply and ordering for more information.
When providing offsite vaccinations, it is important to ensure vaccines are packed appropriately and monitored during transport and during the vaccination clinic.
Refer to the National Vaccine Storage Guidelines - Strive for 5 for advice on packing coolers and preparing for mobile or outreach vaccination clinics. The ‘Strive for 5’ guidelines include a checklist and temperature chart for mobile or outreach immunisation clinics.
