Adolescents and adults who have never had a tetanus-toxoid vaccine are recommended to receive a primary course and booster doses

Adolescents and adults who have never had a tetanus-toxoid vaccine are recommended to receive:

• 3 doses of dT vaccine with at least 4 weeks between doses
• booster doses at 10 years and 20 years after the primary course

These people should receive 1 of the 3 primary doses (preferably the 1st) as dTpa, to protect against pertussis. If dT vaccine is not available, they can receive dTpa vaccine for all primary doses.³

Tetanus-toxoid vaccine is funded through the NIP for all adolescents and adults aged <20 years who have never received a tetanus-toxoid vaccine. For details see the National Immunisation Program Schedule.

Catch-up vaccination has details on managing people aged ≥10 years who have never received dT vaccine and need catch-up doses.

Check the recommended intervals between doses when giving dTpa or dT in a catch-up schedule. See Table. Catch-up schedule for people ≥10 years of age (for vaccines recommended on a population level) in Catch-up vaccination.