8 June 2022

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccines: Department of Health Disability Provider Alert (3 June 2022)

The Australian Government Department of Health (Department of Health) has issued a new Disability Provider Alert with updated vaccine information for disability providers.

Key points

• The Department of Health has issued a new Disability Provider Alert.
• ATAGI has expanded its recommendations for a COVID winter vaccination dose to include all people aged over 16 with disability.
• Reminder of COVID-19 person-centred emergency preparedness (PCEP) guides for people with disability.

Department of Health provider alert (3 June 2022)

The Department of Health has issued a COVID-19 vaccination – Disability Provider Alert – 3 June 2022.

The alert contains important information about the continued rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, including:

• updated advice on recommendations for winter COVID-19 winter dose from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI)
• a short survey to help inform the Department of Health about uptake and ongoing needs for vaccination
• information about COVID-19 treatments, transmission, COVID-19 and flu vaccination is available in the COVID-19 Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (PCEP) Guides. These guides are designed to help people with disability plan for a COVID-19 emergency tailored to their unique support needs. The guides are available in Easy Read and Standard English formats from the Collaborating 4 Inclusion website
• advice about co-administration of the flu vaccine and COVID-19 winter dose
• Easy Read resources available on the Department of Health website
• assistance pathways available to people with disability and their support networks, including via the National Coronavirus and COVID-19 Vaccine Helpline (phone 1800 020 080) and the Disability Gateway.

We encourage you to read the Department of Health provider alert for the full details.

Promoting access to COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters

Supporting NDIS participants to access COVID-19 vaccinations

All NDIS participants aged 5 years and over are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants aged 16 and older are eligible for a booster dose if they have completed their primary course of a COVID-19 vaccination at least three months ago. People aged 16 years and older with disability are also eligible for a COVID-19 winter dose (that is, a second booster dose). ATAGI recommends people with disability should receive their COVID-19 winter dose from 4 months after their first booster dose.

All people have the right to make their own decision about COVID-19 vaccination. See our statement about participant rights and the role of NDIS providers and workers in supporting participants to access COVID-19 vaccination, which was sent to registered providers on 5 November 2021. 

Providers should take all steps to assist participants that they support to access the vaccination where they need assistance to do so, including boosters. Further information is available on the Department of Health website, including Easy Read and Auslan resources.

Our provider alert of 9 June 2021 contained resources to help you to support participants to understand the vaccination process and to provide informed consent.

Our fact sheet, called ‘COVID-19 Vaccines: Informed consent, preparing for the vaccine, and restrictive practices’, aims to assist NDIS providers to better understand their obligations when supporting people with disability to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Health has published a COVID-19 vaccination consent form in easy read format.

To assist people with disability to learn more about COVID-19 booster doses, the Department of Health has also developed the following easy read resources:

• Fact sheet about the third dose
• Fact sheet about the booster dose
• Fact sheet about the difference between the third dose and a booster dose
• Fact sheet about the winter dose

Vaccination reporting requirements

Registered providers delivering intensive support services are reminded of the arrangements for monitoring provider compliance with the condition of registration that requires compliance with public health orders or directions relating to COVID-19 vaccination requirements, including booster doses.

Registered providers delivering intensive support services are required to report worker vaccination information to the NDIS Commission. Refer to our NDIS workforce vaccination page for more information.

NDIS Commission COVID-19 vaccine information and resources

The COVID-19 vaccine information webpage on our website contains links to updates about COVID-19 vaccines and resources for NDIS providers.

We also have a COVID-19 vaccine webpage containing information for people with disability.