A recording of the live webinar on the COVID-19 booster vaccination rollout in residential aged care, held on 3 November 2021, is now available on the Department’s website.
Aimed at residential aged care providers and services, residents, their families and representatives and workers, the webinar provides detailed information on the upcoming national roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine booster program in residential aged care.
Hosted by the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Senator Richard Colbeck and deputy secretary, Ageing and Aged Care Group, Michael Lye, the webinar features presentations from the National COVID Vaccine Taskforce and Commonwealth Department of Health representatives as well as Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) CEO, Craig Gear.
Topics covered include:
- What you need to know about COVID-19 booster vaccinations
- How the in-reach booster clinics will be delivered
- Roles and responsibilities of vaccine providers and facilities
- How to prepare for an in-reach clinic, including consent
- What to do if it’s been less than six months since the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- How to support and engage with residents and workers.
The webinar includes 30 minutes of Q&A and is an important information source for residents, their families and representatives and the aged care workforce in general.
Guidance resources to support your booster clinics
A range of resources and guidance material is available for all residential aged care providers and facilities on the department’s website.
The COVID-19 Vaccination – Residential aged care providers section has the latest information to assist aged care providers to prepare their facility, residents and workers for the booster clinic program. These include:
- a fact sheet for residents and families on the COVID-19 booster program
- a fact sheet for workers on the COVID-19 booster program
- a vaccine dose policy which provides guidance on administering vaccines in aged care facilities. It includes information about primary and booster dose eligibility, managing excess doses and make up doses.
- scope of vaccine services for in-reach and static clinics – policy guidance on the scope of delivery of primary course and booster vaccinations to residential aged care
- a planning checklist for vaccination day – a checklist for residential aged care facilities to prepare for the booster vaccination clinic
- clinical governance requirements – which sets out the roles and responsibilities of the residential aged care facility and the vaccine workforce, in planning and preparing for the booster clinic, on the day of the clinic, and after the clinic
- consent in the residential aged care context – which sets out considerations for consent to primary course and booster doses in the residential aged care context
- a consent process flow chart – which sets out consent pathways and assessment of residents’ clinical suitability for a primary course or booster vaccination, ahead of time and on the day
- a site readiness checklist – a checklist for the physical clinic set up.
- what to expect on vaccination day – information for residents, families and carers about what to expect in the lead up to, and on vaccination day.
