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From 1 January 2024, the Commonwealth Government will fund participating pharmacies to administer National Immunisation Program (NIP) vaccines, with a
one-off payment of $18.85 administration fee per vaccination. The payment applies to NIP vaccines, given to people fitting the criteria listed below, which can be administered by participating pharmacies. Further information on the changes can be found at Launch of the National Immunisation Program Vaccinations in Pharmacy (NIPVIP) Program - Department of Health and Aged Care website.

The NSW Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 (clause 48A) authorises appropriately trained pharmacists in NSW to administer the following vaccines to eligible patients.

Vaccine eligibility table for community pharmacies

Pharmacist immunisers must not supply or administer a vaccine and must refer persons to a medical practitioner, if they are less than 5 years of age, have any concerns regarding consent, the person has a contraindication to vaccination or has experienced a severe adverse event after vaccination or the patient has complex medical needs, and the pharmacist cannot confidently and completely address these.

​Name
​Limitations of use 
​Who is eligible for free National Immunisation Program (NIP)/Commonwealth/state funded vaccines from a community pharmacy?1
​Who can receive privately funded vaccines from a community pharmacy?
​COVID-19 vaccines (SARS-COV-2)
​In accordance with Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved Product Information and Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommendations.
​Commonwealth2 funded for: people aged 5 years and over.
​N/A
​Diphtheria toxoid
Pertussis antigen
Tetanus toxoid
​May be administered in combination e.g. ADT, dTpa, DTPa.
 ​NIP funded for: 
  • people aged 5 – 19 years for catch- up vaccination,
  • pregnant women3,
  • refugee and humanitarian entrants aged 5 years and over.
​People aged 5 years and over.
​Hepatitis A vaccine 
​May be administered in combination with other antigens.
​State funded for: post exposure management in people aged 5 years and over.
​​People aged 5 years and over.
​Hepatitis B vaccine
​May be administered in combination with other antigens.
 NIP funded for:
  • people aged 5 – 19 years as catch- up vaccination,
  • refugees and humanitarian entrants aged five years and over.
State funded for the following groups (5 years and over):
  • Aboriginal people,
  • household and sexual contacts of acute and chronic hepatitis B cases,
  • men who have sex with men,
  • injecting drug users,
  • sex workers.
People aged 5 years and over.
​Human Papillomavirus vaccine
​​NIP funded for: people aged 12 – 25 years.People aged ​9 – 12 years (the optimal age for HPV vaccination is 12–13 years)
and 26 years and over as per the Australian Immunisation Handbook (it is recommended that these people are referred to a medical officer).
​Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine
​
​NIP funded for: people 5 years and over with asplenia and hyposplenia. 
People aged ​5 years and over.
​Influenza vaccine
​
​NIP funded for:
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 5 years and over,
  • people aged 5 years and over with certain medical risk conditions,
  • pregnant women (can be given at any stage of pregnancy),
  • people aged 65 years and over (a vaccine that is specifically designed to produce a higher immune response is available for this group). 
​People aged ​5 years and over.
​Japanese encephalitis vaccine
​Mandatory completion of the additional training module: Japanese encephalitis - A learning resource for immunisation providers hosted by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia or the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
​State funded for: people 5 years and over who live or routinely work in any of these Local Government Areas and:
  • regularly spend time outdoors placing them at risk of mosquito bites, or
  • are experiencing homelessness, or
  • are living in conditions with limited mosquito protection (e.g. tents, caravans, dwellings with no insect screens), or
  • are engaging in outdoor flood recovery (clean-up) efforts, including repeated professional or volunteer deployments.
People aged ​5 years and over.
​Measles vaccine
Mumps vaccine
Rubella vaccine
​May be administered in combination with other antigens.
 ​NIP funded for:
  • people aged 5 – 19 years for catch- up vaccination,
  • refugees and humanitarian entrants aged five years and over.
State funded for:
  • unvaccinated individuals born during or after 1966,
  • vaccination of rubella seronegative post-natal women.
​People aged ​5 years and over.
​Meningococcal vaccine (ACWY) (quadrivalent) conjugate vaccine
​ ​NIP funded for:
  • people aged 5 – 10 years on catch-up schedule,
  • adolescents aged 15-19 years4,
  • people aged 5 years and over with asplenia, hyposplenia, complement deficiency and treatment with eculizumab.
​People aged ​5 years and over.
​Meningococcal B
​ ​NIP funded for: people aged 5 years and over with asplenia, hyposplenia, complement deficiency and treatment with eculizumab.
​People aged ​5 years and over.
​Meningococcal C​​

NIP funded for: People aged ≥10 years to <15 years on catch-up schedule

​People aged 5 years and over.
​Poliomyelitis vaccine
​May be administered in combination with other antigens.
​NIP funded for:
  • people aged 5 – 19 years for catch-up vaccination,
  • refugees and humanitarian entrants aged 5 years and over.
​People aged ​5 years and over.
​Typhoid vaccine
​Intramuscular (IMI) formulation only
May be administered in combination with other antigens.
​N/A
​People aged ​5 years and over.
​Varicella vaccine
​May be administered in combination with other antigens.
​NIP funded for:
  • people aged 5 – 19 years for catch-up vaccination,
  • refugees and humanitarian entrants aged 5 years and over.
People aged ​5 years and over.
​Zoster vaccine (Recombinant varicella zoster virus glycoprotein e antigen vaccine)
​Shingrix vaccine brand only.
​

NIP funded for:

  • People aged 65 years and over
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 50 years and over
  • Immunocompromised adults aged 18 years and over with haemopoietic stem cell transplant, solid organ transplant haematological malignancy, and advanced or untreated HIV
​People aged 18 years and over.
​Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine​Prevenar 13 only​

NIP funded for:

  • People aged 70 years and over
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    adults aged 50 years and over
​

People aged 70 years and over and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 50 years and over

​

RSV vaccine (recombinant RSV pre-fusion protein vaccine)

​Arexvy brand only​N/A​People aged 60 years and over

 

* Vaccines may only be administered in accordance with advice in the Australian Immunisation Handbook or Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) advice.

A registered pharmacist immuniser initiating and administering vaccines under his/her own authority must comply with the three components of clause 48A of the NSW Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 which prescribes rules for:

  • completing an accredited vaccination training course,
  • recording each vaccination in accordance with the regulation requirements, and
  • conducting vaccinations under the NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards

General training

The pharmacist immuniser must complete 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 hold a certificate confirming competency to vaccinate following completion of an accredited training program for all authorised vaccines that they intend to administer.

The pharmacist immuniser must hold a cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certificate issued within the last 12 months. If the pharmacist is administering vaccines to people aged less than 14 years of age, the CPR certificate must include paediatric CPR training.

To maintain authority to immunise, the pharmacist immuniser must annually review best practice policy for immunisation and ensure their competence for each vaccine they administer. This maybe, but is not limited to, attendance at seminars on current practices, or formal immunisation update courses.

An intern pharmacist who holds a certificate confirming competency to vaccinate following completion of an accredited training program for all vaccines they intend to administer, is only able to administer specified vaccines under the direct supervision of a pharmacist immuniser who holds certification to vaccinate for the relevant vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccine training

For the purpose of supply and administration of any COVID-19 vaccine, a pharmacist immuniser, in addition to the above requirements, must also have read the ATAGI guidance on the use of multi-dose vials for COVID-19 vaccination and reviewed the NSW Health guidance on management of COVID-19 vaccines specific to each of the vaccines that the immuniser will be administering on the NSW Health COVID-19 vaccination webpage for immunisation providers.

Japanese encephalitis vaccine training

For the purposes of supply and administration of any Japanese encephalitis vaccine, a pharmacist immuniser, in addition to the above requirements, must also successfully complete the Japanese encephalitis - A learning resource for immunisation providers hosted by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia or the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

Additional information on the COVID-19 vaccination program for pharmacist immunisers is available on COVID-19 vaccination: information for community pharmacists.

Further information

For further information:

  • on the record keeping requirements for pharmacists administering vaccines contact the Duty Pharmaceutical Officer at the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Unit, NSW Ministry of Health by telephone on (02) 9391 9944 or email MOH-PharmaceuticalServices@health.nsw.gov.au
  • on the Pharmacist Vaccination Standards email the Immunisation Unit, NSW Ministry of Health on MOH-vaccreports@health.nsw.gov.au

Links

Disclaimers

1Funded by the Commonwealth separate to the NIP

2Advice on eligibility for NIP catch up vaccinations for people aged 19 years and under, people aged 25 years and under who have missed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and refugees and humanitarian entrants aged five years and over is available on the Department of Health and Aged Care webpage.

3A single dose of dTpa vaccine is usually given to pregnant women at 28 weeks (can be given between 20 to 32 weeks of each pregnancy) and should be given as early as possible (from 20 weeks) to women who have been identified as being at high risk of early delivery.

4Meningococcal ACWY vaccine is free under the NIP for adolescents aged 14-16 years (primarily delivered through school-based vaccination program). Adolescents up to 20 years of age are eligible for free catch-up vaccination if they didn’t receive the vaccine at 14-16 years of age.


Current as at: Saturday 30 December 2023
Contact page owner: Immunisation