Date published:
5 April 2019
Intended audience:
Health sector
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has provided advice to support immunisation providers ahead of this year’s influenza season.
The ATAGI advice indicates:
- annual vaccination is the most important measure to prevent influenza and its complications
- annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons 6 months of age and over
- all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including those aged 5 to 14 years, are now eligible to receive free annual influenza vaccination under the National Immunisation Program (NIP).
- for adults aged 65 years and over, two higher-immunogenicity trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) formulations (one a ‘high-dose’ vaccine and another containing an adjuvant) are available
- in 2019, only Fluad® (TIV containing an adjuvant) is NIP funded
- the higher immunogenicity TIVs are preferentially recommended over quadrivalent influenza vaccines (QIVs) for adults aged ≥65 years
- there is no preference for use between either of these two TIVs
- QIVs continue to be clinically recommended for those under the age of 65 years
- all presentations of influenza vaccine brands registered and available in Australia for 2019 are latex free.
Please see ATAGI’s clinical advice on 2019 seasonal influenza vaccines in full.