Catch-up vaccination aims to provide optimal protection against disease as quickly as possible by completing a person’s recommended vaccination schedule in the shortest but most effective time frame.
Key messages
- The National Immunisation Program provides free essential vaccines to protect eligible people against a range of diseases.
- Assess vaccination status based on the schedule for the National Immunisation Program.
- Consider vaccine recommendations according to previous immunisation history, age and risk factors.
- Follow the clinical guidance contained within the Australian Immunisation Handbook
- Resources are available to support the development of catch-up vaccination plans
Follow the three steps below to develop a catch up vaccination plan.
Step 1. Check vaccination history
Access and review the person’s vaccination history to determine whether they are up to date. Refer to:
- the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
- hard copy immunisation records
- departure health check / Australian immigration health records or
- contact their previous vaccination provider.
For migrants, refugees and other humanitarian entrants, check if overseas immunisation records (written) are available. Vaccines provided overseas may have a different name.
Encourage clients to provide a translated immunisation history if the original record is not in English. Eligible people may be referred to Free Translating to have their immunisation records translated by an accredited translator free of charge.
Refer to the Handbook guide - Foreign language , for a list of foreign vaccines by trade names.
Step 2. Start catch-up vaccination
If you cannot confirm previous vaccination, assume the person has not received that vaccine.
Refer to Catch-up for further details.
People without documentation of vaccination
Start a catch-up schedule, according to age. Consider:
- additional vaccines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- other risk .
People with documentation of vaccination
Plan a catch-up schedule. Consider:
- any previous doses the person received
- that some doses may be invalid – for example, if the interval between doses was too short
- age
- additional vaccines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- other risk .
Key considerations
Consider laboratory testing to guide catch-up vaccination for hepatitis B, MMR and varicella. Laboratory testing for any other diseases in children < 10 years is not recommended.
Offer serological testing for all migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum after arriving to:
- people from hepatitis B–endemic countries to detect current or past infection
- women of child-bearing age to identify those who are seronegative for rubella and need vaccination.
Build a catch-up vaccination plan based on the previous documented doses the person has received. In almost all cases, do not start the schedule again, regardless of the interval since the last dose.
Multiple vaccines can be given on the same day.
Multiple live (parental) vaccines can be given at the same time or at least 4 weeks apart.
Refer to Catch-up for further details.
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Handbook catch up calculator
The Handbook contains an interactive catch-up for vaccines on the NIP. This tool will help you to plan appropriate catch-up schedules for children <10 years of age.
A catch-up schedule will be generated using the principles outlined in the Handbook.
Create a catch-up worksheet (manual process)
Use a catch-up worksheet to record vaccines:
- due for age
- overdue and
- timing of future doses.
To use the Handbook’s catch-up worksheet, refer to the step-by-step process – Catch-up for children aged <10 years for National Immunisation Program vaccines to calculate and record which vaccines are due for age, which are outstanding and timing of future doses.
Ensure the catch-up plan meets the minimum and minimum intervals between for people < 10 years.
Vaccine recommendations
Refer to the following guidance to build a catch-up plan
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Catch-up vaccines are free under the for eligible people up to 20 years of age, except for the HPV vaccine which is available free up to 26 years, and people of all ages with specified medical risk conditions.
Refugees and humanitarian of any age are eligible for free NIP catch-up vaccines.
Additional vaccines are free under the Victorian Immunisation for eligible people aged ≥20 years.
Create a catch-up worksheet (manual process)
Refer to Planning catch-up vaccines for people aged to calculate and record which vaccines are due for age, which are outstanding and timing of future doses.
Download the Victorian immunisation guidelines for 10 years and older to develop a catch-up plan for people aged 10 years and over with no vaccination history.
Victorian catch-up guidelines for 10 years and olderVaccine recommendations
Refer to the following guidance to build the catch-up plan
- National Immunisation Program
- Non-Indigenous Australians without risk factors for vaccine-preventable
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people without risk factors for vaccine-preventable diseases living in
- People with risk factors for certain vaccine preventable
Important information
Certain childhood combination vaccines are not registered for use in children aged ≥10 years, adolescents or adults. The exception is MMR vaccine, which is available for use at all ages. MMRV vaccine is only recommended for use up to 14 years of age.
Refer to the disease in the Handbook for age recommendations of each vaccine in the NIP.
Ensure the catch-up plan meets the minimum intervals between for people ≥10 years.
Step 3. Record and report vaccinations
It is mandatory to record all NIP vaccinations given on the AIR.
- Enter the individual’s immunisation history (including all overseas vaccines) onto AIR (all ages)
- Enter vaccines administered into AIR (all ages)
- Use correct brand name, dose number and batch number
- Notify immunisation medical to record evidence of natural immunity
Further information can be found in Using the Australian Immunisation .
Provide a copy of the catch-up plan to the client/parent or medical decision maker.
Resources
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Health Professional Online Services or the AIR enquiries line (1800 653 809).
The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) eLearning to learn how to access an immunisation history, submit information to the AIR and to submit overseas immunisation records to the AIR.
NCIRS AIR – How to record vaccinations that were administered to children overseas to the AIR
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Catch-up worksheet for children <10 years of age for NIP
Minimum acceptable age for first dose of scheduled vaccines in
Number of doses a child should have received by their current
Minimum acceptable dose intervals for children< 10 years of
Catch-up schedule for people ≥10 years of
Vaccination for migrants refugees and people seeking asylum in
Reviewed 03 January 2024