Infographic. Vaccination for migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum

Vaccination is a priority for all migrants, refugee and people seeking asylum after arriving in Australia. All age groups should receive catch-up vaccination.

• Step 1: check vaccination history. Check if the person has documentation of their vaccination history. Check all possible sources of vaccination records, in case the person has visited more than 1 vaccination provider. For recently arrived people, check the WHO vaccine-preventable diseases monitoring system to help understand vaccination schedules in other countries. Do not assume the person has received all of these vaccines.
• Step 2: start catch-up vaccination. Offer serological testing to people from hepatitis B-endemic countries to detect current or past infection, and women of child-bearing age to identify those who are seronegative for rubella and need vaccination. Consider that some people may have received a live vaccine — such as yellow fever — as part of their pre-departure screening. Wait at least 4 weeks before giving another live vaccine. For people with documentation of vaccination, plan a catch-up schedule. Consider any previous doses the person received, that some doses may be invalid (for example, if the interval between doses was too short), age and other risk factors. For people without documentation of vaccination, start a catch-up schedule according to age.
• Step 3: record and report vaccination. Report any vaccines that a person receives, and has previously received, to the Australian Immunisation Register. Provide people with a written record of all the vaccines they have received.

See the Australian Immunisation Handbook for more details.