SA Pharmacists to provide 10 more vaccinations

The South Australian Branch of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia welcomes Minister Picton’s announcement to expand the number of vaccines that can be administered by South Australian pharmacists.

This decision is tremendous recognition of the competence and capacity of our community pharmacists to support the healthcare needs South Australians and their local communities.

This extension of pharmacist vaccination brings South Australia into the forefront nationally of pharmacist-administered vaccinations.

South Australian Branch President, Nick Panayiaris, congratulated the State Government for implementing this sensible change that will see pharmacists vaccinate more South Australians. “Your Guild has been advocating for, and working with the State government, on these changes for some time. It is a true recognition of the enormous impact that our amazing community pharmacists have on the health of all South Australians”.
“We are pleased that the Malinauskas Labor Government is committed to expanding the scope of practice of community pharmacists and your Guild will continue to work with the government on developing further initiatives that will positively impact the health of all South Australians. Clearly pharmacists are part of the solution and giving pharmacists the ability to practise at their full scope, applying their training and expertise will bring great benefits to our health system.”

South Australian pharmacists will be able to administer 10 more vaccinations including for chickenpox, measles, meningococcal, and shingles, under changes to the Vaccine Administration Code led by the Malinauskas Labor Government.

This makes South Australia’s pharmacist-administered vaccination scheme the most extensive in the nation and will help alleviate pressure on GPs.

In addition to being able to administer 10 more vaccinations, eligibility will be expanded to allow pharmacists to give a further three vaccines to a broader group of South Australians, making them available to more young people and families. This includes the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, the Diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine and Diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and polio vaccine.

More pharmacists will also now be able to administer the Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) vaccine for people aged five years and over.

The changes apply to how pharmacists administer the following vaccinations to South Australians:

• JEV vaccine to persons aged five years and over
• Measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (in combination) to persons aged 10 years and over
• Diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus vaccine (adult formulation in combination) to persons aged 10 years and over
• Diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio vaccine (adult formulation in combination) to persons aged 10 years and over
• Inactivated polio vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Meningococcal ACWY vaccine to persons aged 10 and over
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Hepatitis A vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Hepatitis B vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Hepatitis A and B combination vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Meningococcal B vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Varicella only (chickenpox) vaccine to persons aged 10 years and over
• Herpes zoster (Shingrix) vaccine to persons aged 50 years and over

The changes will come into effect today, Friday 28 April 2023, when a new Vaccine Administration Code is published on the SA Health website.

Members are encouraged to visit the SA Health Website and familiarise themselves with the Vaccination Administration Code