Policy document
ATAGI 2023 Annual Statement on Immunisation
Madeline Valeri, Shireen Durrani, Catherine Tran, Clayton Chiu, Kristine K. Macartney et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Australia's technical immunisation advisory group reported on vaccine programs and disease control in 2022. COVID-19 vaccination was expanded to children aged 5 years and over, and booster doses were recommended for adolescents and adults. The country responded to outbreaks of influenza, Japanese encephalitis, and mpox by developing and delivering vaccines. The National Immunisation Program maintained high coverage rates for routine childhood vaccines. ATAGI also recommended changes to the HPV vaccine schedule from two doses to one dose.
Key points
- COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expanded to all children aged 5 years and over, and some children aged 6 months to under 5 years
- By end of 2022, 69% of people aged 16 years and over had received 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine
- National Immunisation Program maintained high coverage levels for vaccine-preventable diseases
- ATAGI responded to outbreaks of Japanese encephalitis and mpox by developing and expanding vaccine recommendations
- Recommendation made to change HPV vaccine schedule from two doses to one dose, implemented from February 2023
Limitations
This is a high-level policy statement that does not provide detailed immunisation coverage data by demographic group or specific outcomes for individual vaccines beyond COVID-19. It does not evaluate the effectiveness of any particular intervention through rigorous study design.
Abstract
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) 2023 Annual Statement onImmunisation is the third publication in this series.It highlights the key successes, trends and challenges in the use of vaccines and control of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) in Australia in 2022.It also signals ATAGI's priority actions for addressing key issues for 2023 and beyond. SummaryIn 2022, governments across Australia eased coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemicrelated community and border control measures.This was associated with increased rates of some common VPDs, in particular influenza, as social interactions increased.There were also significant outbreaks of two newly emerged diseases, Japanese encephalitis (JE) and mpox (formerly known as monkeypox).The responses to these new Communicable Disease Incidents of National Significance (CDINS) included establishing vaccination programs against these diseases. Key highlights in immunisation in 2022• The national COVID-19 vaccination program continued throughout 2022, including the expansion of vaccine eligibility to all children aged 5 years and over, and to some at-risk children aged 6 months to under 5 years.New variant-based COVID-19 vaccines also came into use.• ATAGI recommended booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for adults and adolescents in response to emerging evidence on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and new variant epidemic waves.By the end of 2022, a total of 69% of people aged 16 years and over had received 3 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.A first booster dose was recommended for all people aged 16 years and over.• ATAGI worked alongside other key national, state and territory governing bodies to respond to outbreaks of influenza, JE and mpox.ATAGI developed and expanded vaccine recommendations for JE and mpox, and governments delivered these safe and effective vaccines across Australia.• The National Immunisation Program (NIP) maintained high levels of coverage, which is important to ensure continued protection against VPDs as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.• ATAGI provided advice to the Australian Government on the potential effectiveness and safety of moving from a two-dose to a one-dose human papillomavirus (HPV ) vaccine schedule under the NIP.This underpinned changes to the program that started in February 2023.