NSW Health is planning for the 2023 influenza vaccination program. Please see the following advice related to ordering and distribution of vaccines.  

• Pharmacist immunisers will be able to administer influenza vaccines to individuals aged 5 years and over who are eligible under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) or where the vaccine has been privately funded.
• Pharmacies with a vaccine account number with the NSW Vaccine Centre will be given a pre-allocation of NIP influenza vaccines. These will need to be approved by the pharmacy in the NSW Vaccine Centre online system ahead of the program. Approval of these pre-allocation orders opened on Monday 6 March. To approve orders, pharmacist immunisers must log into their NSW Vaccine Centre account. Providers who do not approve their pre-allocated order in time, or were not registered with the NSW Vaccine Centre, can place an online order through the usual process once online ordering opens.
• An Influenza Vaccination Provider Toolkit and other resources are available on the NSW Immunisation webpage. These support providers with managing roll-out and implementation of their influenza vaccination program, including information about the pre-allocation process.
• NSW Health will commence distribution of NIP funded vaccines once they are received into the NSW Vaccine Centre in sufficient supplies. This is usually at the end of March or in early April.

Before the start of the 2023 influenza vaccination program, it is recommended that pharmacist immunisers:

• ensure they are able to access all pharmacist-approved NIP vaccines by following the advice here.
• check their fridge capacity to store the number of vaccines they will need.
• Monitor for email correspondence (including in the junk folder) about influenza vaccination.
• do not schedule appointments until they have received their first NIP influenza vaccine delivery.

Thank you for your ongoing work to keep the NSW community safe.