National Immunisation Catch-up Calculator (NICC)

What it is

The National Immunisation Catch-up Calculator (NICC) is an online clinical support tool developed by the Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to help healthcare professionals create catch-up vaccination schedules for people under 20 years of age.

NICC generates person-specific recommendations using:

• age,
• vaccination history,
• medical risk conditions,
• Australian Immunisation Handbook guidance, and 
• National Immunisation Program (NIP) rules.

Use NICC when a person:

• is overdue for one or more vaccinations
• has delayed or missed vaccinations
• has an incomplete or unknown vaccination history
• has received vaccines overseas 

NICC supports:

• infants, children and adolescents under 20 years of age
• people with medical risk conditions
• people vaccinated overseas

NICC supports clinical decision-making and should be used alongside professional judgement, local policies and individual clinical circumstances.

Who NICC is for

NICC is primarily designed for healthcare professionals involved in immunisation, including:

• general practitioners (GPs)
• nurses and immunisation providers
• pharmacists (where authorised)
• specialists and other clinicians delivering vaccines

Parents, guardians and carers may also use NICC. Catch-up schedules should be reviewed by a qualified healthcare professional before vaccines are given.

How NICC works

NICC applies structured clinical rules based on:

• the Australian Immunisation Handbook
• National Immunisation Program (NIP) requirements
• Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) rules

To generate a schedule, NICC uses information such as:

• age (derived from the date of birth)
• vaccination history
• vaccines received overseas
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status (where relevant)
• medical risk conditions

Providing complete and accurate information helps NICC generate the most appropriate recommendations.

What NICC provides

NICC generates personalised catch-up schedules showing:

• recommended vaccines
• timing and minimum intervals between doses

Schedules can be:

• viewed online
• downloaded as a PDF
• printed for clinical use

NICC also provides downloadable Business Rules Specifications (BRS) documentation that explains the clinical rules used to generate recommendations, and foreign language terms to help translate overseas immunisation records.

NICC is available through the Australian Immunisation Handbook website.

Launch the NICC

Medical risk conditions

NICC supports a wide range of medical risk conditions that may affect vaccine recommendations, including:

• immunocompromising conditions
• chronic and other medical conditions
• early life risk factors
• some lifestyle and behavioural conditions (e.g. harmful alcohol use, smoking, etc.)

When a person has multiple medical risk conditions, NICC identifies a dominant risk condition using a hierarchy of clinical rules. By default, NICC selects the condition associated with the broadest vaccination requirements and generates a schedule based on that condition. Users can change this selection on the Confirmation screen and generate schedules for individual conditions. Healthcare professionals should review all relevant conditions and use clinical judgement when creating a final vaccination plan.

Immunocompromising conditions

Including:

• haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT)
• solid organ transplant
• primary or acquired immunodeficiency
• HIV infection
• malignancies
• immunosuppressive therapy
• asplenia
• complement disorders or inhibitor therapy

Chronic and other medical conditions

Including:

• chronic cardiac disease
•  chronic respiratory disease
• chronic liver disease
• chronic renal disease
• chronic neurological conditions
• chronic metabolic conditions
• diabetes
• haematological disorders
• developmental disability
• obesity
• previous invasive pneumococcal disease
• cerebrospinal fluid leak
• long-term aspirin therapy
• trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)

Early life risk factors

Including:

• preterm birth
• low birth weight

Some lifestyle and behavioural conditions

Including:

• smoking
• harmful alcohol use

Vaccines included

NICC includes recommendations for many vaccines in the National Immunisation Program (NIP) Schedule. It does not currently include recommendations for all vaccines or vaccination programs, such as COVID-19, mpox, Japanese encephalitis or travel vaccines.

NICC currently includes recommendations for the following vaccine-preventable diseases:

• diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
• hepatitis A (HepA)
• hepatitis B (HepB)
• human papillomavirus (HPV)
• meningococcal disease
• pneumococcal disease
• polio
• rotavirus
• measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
• varicella (chickenpox)
• herpes zoster (shingles)

Influenza vaccines are not included in generated schedules. Annual influenza vaccination recommendations should still be considered where clinically appropriate.

Current limitations

NICC:

• currently supports people under 20 years only
• relies on accurate and complete data entry
• may not account for all clinical scenarios
• cannot generate a single unified schedule for every combination of medical at-risk conditions

Healthcare professionals should consider contraindications, patient preferences and local policies when finalising schedules.

Visit the Announcements page for information about:

• new features
• enhancements
• major releases
• service updates

Subscribe to the mailing list to receive updates about the Australian Immunisation Handbook website, app and NICC.

Refer to the page history to find out about bug fixes and minor refinements.

What if vaccination history is unknown?

NICC can generate a schedule using incomplete or unknown vaccination history. Clinical assessment is still required.

Can NICC manage multiple medical risk factors?

NICC supports many complex scenarios but may not account for all clinical situations.

Where multiple medical at-risk conditions exist, NICC uses a hierarchy of clinical rules to identify a dominant risk condition. By default, NICC selects the condition associated with the broadest vaccination requirements and generates a schedule based on that condition. Users can change this selection on the Confirmation screen and generate schedules for individual risk conditions.

Healthcare professionals should review all relevant conditions and use clinical judgement when creating a final and/or unified vaccination plan.

Are overseas vaccines supported?

Yes. NICC supports entry of vaccines received overseas and incorporates them into catch-up schedule recommendations where appropriate.

Does NICC include influenza vaccines?

No. Influenza vaccines are not included in generated schedules, but annual influenza vaccination remains recommended.

Where can health professionals get support?

Healthcare professionals can access support through:

• local public health units
• state and territory specialist immunisation services
• Primary Health Networks (PHNs)

Does NICC include state and territory funded vaccine programs?

No. NICC currently identifies vaccines funded under the National Immunisation Program (NIP), but does not account for all state and territory funded vaccination programs.

Healthcare professionals should consider local funding arrangements and eligibility criteria when reviewing recommendations and discussing vaccination options with patients.
 

Use the dedicated NICC feedback form to:

• report problems
• suggest improvements
• share feedback about the NICC

Your feedback helps improve NICC and supports future enhancements.