Aged Care Essentials Article | COVID-19 Booster Vaccinations for Staff

Written by ACE Editorial Team | 67/03/2022

On 10 February 2022, the National Cabinet endorsed the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) recommendation to mandate a third COVID-19 vaccination “booster” for workers in residential aged care facilities. The state and territory governments agreed to implement the mandate in their respective health directions.

However, not all state/territory governments have taken the next step and enacted these agreements into law. As at 8 March 2022, these are the booster vaccination requirements for residential aged care workers in each state/territory:

ACT	A third dose is not yet mandatory. Workers currently only need two doses. Source: Part 1(A)(1)(b) of the Public Health (Aged Care Workers COVID-19 Vaccination) Emergency Direction 2021 (No 2) (ACT).
NT	All workers must have had their third dose by 11 March 2022. Source: section 4(a) of the COVID-19 Directions (No. 41) 2022: Directions for High Risk Places (NT).
NSW	All workers must have had their third dose by 12 April 2022, unless they are not eligible by that date. Workers who are not eligible by 12 April 2022 must get their third dose within six weeks of the due date for their third dose (the due date for a third dose is 13 weeks after the second dose). Source: section 3A of the Public Health (COVID-19 Care Services) Order (No 3) 2021 (NSW).
QLD	A third dose is not yet mandatory. Workers must be “fully vaccinated”. A specific number of doses is not stated within the Residential Aged Care Direction (No. 13) (Qld). Healthcare workers in aged care settings are considered fully vaccinated one week after they receive their second dose, according to Queensland Government guidelines. Source: section 27 of the Residential Aged Care Direction (No. 13) (Qld).
SA	All workers must have their third dose within four weeks of becoming eligible for it. Source: section 12(2) of the Emergency Management (Residential Aged Care Facilities No 47) (COVID-19) Direction 2022 (SA). Workers are currently considered eligible for a third dose three months after their second dose, as per the guidelines set by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).
TAS	All workers must have had their third dose by 1 April 2022. Source: section (d) of the Direction under section 16 - Additional vaccination requirements for workers in certain settings - No. 1 (2022) (Tas).
VIC	All workers must have had their third dose by 12 February 2022 or provide proof of a booking to receive their third dose by 12 March 2022. Source: section 10(4) of the Pandemic COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Specified Facilities) Order 2022 (No. 6) (Vic).
WA	All workers must have had their third dose by 5 February 2022, unless the worker was not yet eligible for it by 24 December 2021, in which case they must have their third dose by the later of the following: within one calendar month of becoming eligible; or by 5 February 2022. Source: section 5 of the Booster Vaccination (Restrictions on Access) Directions (No. 2) (WA).

Other limited exemptions may apply to the requirements in the table, as outlined in the public health directions for each state/territory.

What Should I Do?

Residential aged care facilities should encourage their workers to plan for their third dose now, in line with the ATAGI recommendations. These workers are able to get priority appointments through all vaccination channels including GPs, pharmacies, and state and territory run vaccination clinics.

Providers should also keep track of and comply with related requirements regarding:

workers providing evidence of their vaccination status to employers
residential providers maintaining records of the vaccination status of their workforce
reporting on compliance with vaccination rules through the My Aged Care portal
policy and procedures reflecting vaccination requirements and other linked infection prevention and control processes.

Authors

Jaclyn Ling

Jaclyn is a Legal Content Associate at CompliSpace. A recent graduate from Macquarie University in Sydney, she holds a double Bachelor's degree in Commerce and Law (Honours).

Mark Bryan

Mark is a Legal Content Consultant at CompliSpace and the editor for Aged Care Essentials (ACE). Mark has worked as a Legal Policy Officer for the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and the NSW Department of Justice. He also spent three years as lead editor for the private sessions narratives team at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in Arts/Law from the Australian National University with First Class Honours in Law, a Graduate Diploma in Writing from UTS and a Graduate Certificate in Film Directing from the Australian Film Television and Radio School.

View full post