Are you on target?

Utilising a correct injection technique is of vital importance when providing immunisations to patients in order to optimise the immune response and to minimise side effects. To ensure that your technique is on target please refer to our MVEC reference page for further information:

Administration of injected vaccines- correct technique

by Alice Black

It's not too late to have your flu vaccine!

This year there has been an unprecedented demand for the influenza vaccine resulting in periodic shortages. The vaccine is now back in supply across all age groups for both the Victorian state funded program (six months to less than 5 years), as well as the National Immunisation Program. Influenza immunisation is strongly recommended for anyone wishing to be protected against influenza disease and it's complications.

For further information please refer to our MVEC pages:

Influenza vaccine recommendations 

Influenza vaccine recommendations- FAQs 

Free Influenza vaccine in 2018 for children aged 6 months to less than 5 years

by Alice Black

National Immunisation Program (NIP) schedule changes - 1 July 2018

From 1 July 2018, there will be significant changes to the National Immunisation Program (NIP) schedule and we are keen to ensure you have access to the information you need to implement the new schedule.

Changes to the childhood immunisation schedule aim to improve protection against meningococcal, pneumococcal and Haemophilus influenzae type b diseases.

In addition, maternal pertussis (dTpa) vaccination for pregnant women has been listed on the NIP to guarantee its ongoing access and availability.

From 1 July 2018, the NIP childhood schedule will be updated so that:

  • at 12 months of age, children will receive a meningococcal ACWY vaccine (replacing meningococcal C vaccination);
  • at 18 months of age, children will receive the booster Hib vaccine dose, protecting against haemophilus influenzae type B (previously given as a combined vaccine with meningococcal C at 12 months); and
  • at 2, 4 and 12 months of age, children will receive a pneumococcal vaccine (instead of at 2, 4 and 6 months).

Note that at risk children and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia will continue to receive 4 doses, at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months of age.

Educational and promotional communication resources for vaccination providers and consumers to support awareness of the schedule changes are now available.

Hardcopy materials, accompanied by correspondence from the Chief Medical Officer, have been mailed to vaccination providers around the country. The resources are also available for download or order online through the Department of Health website health.gov.au/immunisation.

To assist we encourage you to:

  • learn about the new schedule so that you are able to explain the changes and administer the new schedule correctly.
  • promote the new schedule by displaying the program posters and materials in clinics.
  • administer the dTpa vaccine to pregnant women. You can administer the vaccine to pregnant women early in the third trimester as soon as it is available to you.
  • continue to promote free influenza vaccines to pregnant women. Promotional materials for influenza vaccination are also available through the Department of Health’s website gov.au/immunisation.
  • report vaccinations to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Make sure you report all vaccinations to the AIR. Adult vaccines can be recorded along with child vaccines in the AIR.

 

by Alice Black

ASID Annual Scientific Meeting 2018

The Annual Scientific Meeting for The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) was recently held on the Gold Coast in May 2018. AEFI-CAN & AusVaxSafety ran an Adult Immunisation Satellite Workshop entitled ‘Vaccination Is Not Just For Kids’: What Infectious Disease Physicians Need To Know. Fantastic presentations from this workshop are now available:

For further information on influenza please view our Influenza vaccine recommendations page.

by Alice Black

Free Influenza vaccine in 2018 for children aged 6 months to less than 5 years

In Victoria in 2018 the Influenza vaccine will be provided FREE for all children aged 6 months to less than 5 years of age. For further information and how to access the vaccine please head to our MVEC Free Influenza vaccine for children in 2018 reference page

by Alice Black

Thinking about getting your child the Influenza vaccine?

With the roll out of the 2018 Influenza vaccine the following article may help provide some clarification regarding immunising children

The Conversation: thinking about getting your child the flu vaccine?

For further information regarding the Influenza vaccine please refer to our page MVEC: Influenza vaccine recommendations

by Alice Black

Menveo® (Meningococcal A, C, W, Y) vaccine shortage

GSK has announced that there is a current shortage in the supply of Menveo® vaccine for the remainder of 2018. Refer to the TGA announcement for further information. For alternate Meningococcal immunisation options please see our MVEC: Meningococcal disease and vaccines page

by Alice Black

Changes to the No Jab, No Play legislation

As of February 28 2018, changes to the "No Jab, No Play" legislation have come into effect. Only Immunisation History statements provided by the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) will be the accepted proof of immunisation. Previous forms of documentation (eg GP letter or local council statement) will not be accepted. For further information refer to MVEC's No Jab No Play reference page.

by Alice Black

AEFICAN.ORG.AU the new national surveillance website

We would like to advise you that the SAEFVIC website address has changed to aefican.org.au which is a national surveillance website

*Please note saefvic.org.au will be temporarily redirected to the new aefican.org.au website.

 

  • Your existing login details will still work on this new website so there is no need to reregister**.
  • Upon signing in you will be automatically directed to the Victorian, SAEFVIC arm which continues to only be accessible by SAEFVIC staff.
  • There is no change to our reporting or follow up services so please continue to report as usual.

 

New Users

For new users of aefican.org.au you will need to register via the Register tab on the homepage. Please enter email address, create password and all other required fields. Subsequent logins will be via the Login tab entering username and selected password. Once logged in your details will be auto filled on the Reporter details page.

 

If you have any queries you can contact us on 1300 882 924 (Option 1) or [email protected]

 

Regards,

The SAEFVIC team

 

**For those reporters who live interstate and registered a non-Victorian address, you will need to re-register with a Victorian address. The new AEFI-CAN system is state-based so automatically directs users to the portal for the state/territory registered in their account.

by Alice Black

Immunisation - Get the Facts

A new campaign has been launched by the Government to encourage parents to 'Get The Facts About Immunisation'.

We know parents want evidence based information to support decision making about childhood vaccinations, so we're making it easier to 'get the facts'.

You can find out more information about the campaign by visiting www.immunisationfacts.gov.au

by Alice Black