The Department of Health and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) have issued advice on this year’s annual flu vaccine service as the COVID-19 roll-out continues.
The Department said vaccination against influenza remained important this year, regardless of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This year both flu and COVID-19 vaccines will be available in Australia,” the Department said.
“It is important to plan vaccination timing to give the best protection against both of these potentially serious diseases,” it said.
“ATAGI does not recommend scheduling and administering a flu vaccine with a COVID-19 vaccine on the same day.”
The Department said an interval of at least 14 days between a dose of flu vaccine and a dose of COVID-19 vaccine was advised.
“This 14-day interval is the same for either the Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine or the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine,” it said.
“People in earlier phases for COVID-19 vaccination should have the COVID-19 vaccine as soon they can, and then plan their flu vaccination.”
The Department said people in the later phases for COVID-19 vaccination should have the flu vaccine as soon as they could, and then the COVID-19 vaccine when it was available to them.
It said vaccination experts recommended flu vaccination for all people aged six months and over.
The Department said flu vaccines through the National Immunisation Program (NIP) would become available in April, though timing may vary depending on people’s location.
