Flu season 2024 resources

The best way to protect your patients from the flu and its complications is to offer annual vaccination against the flu. Vaccination against the flu is recommended for all people aged 6 months and over. It is particularly important at risk cohorts are vaccinated against the flu, with a need to focus on improving uptake in children under 5, First Nations people and those who are pregnant.

The administering of annual flu vaccinations should take place from April 2024 onwards. This will provide protection for the peak of the flu season which generally falls between June and September in Australia. National Immunisation Program (NIP) flu vaccines will become available for your practice to order from April 2024, subject to local supply arrangements. Information on how to order vaccines should become available in the coming weeks. Please note vaccination can occur as soon as vaccine stock is available – if stock becomes available prior to April 2023, you are able to begin administering flu vaccinations.

It is mandatory to report all flu vaccines administered to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), whether they are funded under the NIP or private vaccines. From March 1 2024, new mandatory reporting requirements must be included when uploading an encounter to AIR. The following information must be documented: 

• vaccine type
• route of administration
• batch numbers for selected vaccines.

You can find all the most recent clinical guidance on this webpage, under the section titled ‘Where can I find the latest clinical guidance?

This webpage will continue to be updated as further advice and resources become available.

Vaccination providers and other interested practice staff members can receive all of the latest NIP updates by subscribing to the program’s mailing list.
 

To prepare for the 2024 flu season, your practice can:

• Discard any expired vaccines.
• When possible, order new 2024 flu vaccines through your usual channels. If you have any questions, contact your state or territory immunisation program.
• Use the available posters and information cards to promote the free vaccine to eligible people and priority groups (awaiting 2024 resources)
• Consider opportunities to co-administer COVID-19 and flu vaccines
• Ensure  each patient’s age is checked prior to administering flu vaccinations to ensure the correct vaccination for their age is used.
• Ensure  all flu vaccinations are reported to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).
• Keep up to date by checking in on this webpage frequently and by subscribing to receive the latest NIP updates.

The flu vaccine is funded under the the National Immunisation Program for those who are most at risk, including:

•  All children aged 6 months to under 5 years;
• People aged 6 months and older with a medical condition that increases risk of influenza complications;
• First Nations people aged 6 months and older;
• Anyone pregnant (at any stage of pregnancy); and
• People aged 65 years and older.

Further, more detailed information can be found on this webpage under ‘Where can I find the latest clinical guidance?’

The Department of Health and Aged Care’s National Immunisation Program (NIP) Schedule webpage contains information on:

• the NIP Schedule (this is a downloadable PDF)
• catch-up immunisations
• State and territory immunisation schedules
• International immunisation schedules

Visit the webpage

Updated information for the 2024 season will be available soon

Administration of seasonal flu vaccines in 2023

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has published advice for immunisation providers on the administration of 2023 seasonal flu vaccines, including guidance on:

• the flu vaccines available for use in Australia in 2023
• flu virus strains included in the 2023 seasonal flu vaccines
• timing of vaccination
• vaccination for pregnant women
• eligibility for flu vaccines funded under the National Immunisation Program (NIP)
• medical conditions that are associated with an increased risk of flu complications.

Visit the resource

NIP advice for 2023 flu vaccination providers

The Department of Health and Aged Care have released a NIP 2023 Influenza Vaccination fact sheet containing advice for vaccination providers. The fact sheet includes information on:

• Vaccination timing
• Eligibility for free NIP flu vaccines - please note that the eligibility table found on the final page of this fact sheet has been updated to include chronic renal failure as an eligible condition for NIP funded vaccination
• flu vaccination information specific to the funded cohorts
• NIP flu vaccines by age group
• reporting flu vaccinations to the Australian Immunisation Register

Access the fact sheet

Co-administering flu and COVID-19 vaccines

Flu vaccines can be co-administered with (given on the same day as) any COVID-19 vaccine.

On 11 February 2023, the following updates were made to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

The following new flu vaccines were added to the AIR:

• Afluria Quad (NIP) – AFLQUA
• Afluria Quad (Non-NIP) – QUADAF
• Fluarix Tetra (NIP) – FLXTET
• Fluarix Tetra (Non-NIP) – ARXFLU

 The following flu vaccines are no longer registered or available for use in Australia, and therefore will no longer be available to be reported for use to the AIR:

• Afluria Quad - AFLR
• Fluva - FLUVAX
• Vaxigrip - VAXGRP
• Fluarix - FLRIX
• Fluarix Tetra - FLUTET
• FluQuadri Junior - FQDJN
• Fluvirin - FLVRN
• Panvax - PANVAX
• Influvac - INFLUV
• Agrippal - AGRPAL
• Vaxigrip Junior - VGRJNR
• Fluvax Junior - FVXJNR
• Fluad - FLUAD
• Fluzone High-Dose – FLUHID

Please note: vaccination providers will still be able to report these vaccines if they were administered prior to 11 February 2023. Flu vaccines reported prior to 11 February 2023 will remain recorded on the AIR and display on individuals’ vaccination evidence.

In instances where an individual has been vaccinated and the brand is not available (i.e., overseas), vaccination providers can report it as a generic vaccine brand (e.g., ‘Generic Influenza’).

Reporting flu vaccinations to the AIR

It is mandatory to report all flu vaccinations administered, whether they are funded under the National Immunisation Program or privately purchased, to the AIR.

When reporting to the AIR:

• select the relevant vaccine name (i.e. (NIP) for NIP funded vaccines and (Non-NIP) for privately purchased vaccines).
• only the vaccine brand name will display on a persons Immunisation History Statement (e.g., Afluria Quad (NIP) will display as “Afluria Quad”).
• providers will be able to report under these names using their clinical software. If a particular vaccine  has been used and does not appear, contact your software provider. Alternatively, vaccines can be reported using the AIR site.

The Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation (SKAI) communication package is an evidence-based suite of communication tools aimed at improving conversations between vaccination providers and parents of young children, those who are pregnant and families about vaccination.

SKAI was developed by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in partnership with the University of Sydney and other collaborators and includes the following flu vaccination-specific resources to support vaccination providers in conversations with parents of young children and those who are pregnant:

• Is an influenza vaccine recommended for my child?
• Why does my child need a flu shot?
• The influenza vaccine for pregnant women

As part of SKAI, resources are being developed specifically to support vaccine providers in their conversations with First Nations audiences around flu vaccination. These resources will be made available ahead of the flu season.

• Ventilation and air-circulating strategies in general practice
• Winter Planning Toolkit
• Managing pandemic influenza in general practice
• RACGP Practice Flu Poster - A4
• RACGP Practice Flu Poster - A3