Weekly webinar on aged care and COVID-19
The Department of Health and Aged Care is hosting a webinar to provide key updates and advice on COVID-19 as providers continue to manage outbreaks.
The next session will be held online on:
Wednesday 3 August 2022, 3pm–4pm (AEST).
Please register to attend.
There will be a moderated Q&A session with the Departmental officials and we encourage you to submit questions in advance through the registration link.
Further information
To find further information please visit our website or email us if you have any questions:
Useful links for the sector from last weeks' meeting:
- Winter Plan – A guide for residential aged care providers
- Managing home care through COVID-19
- COVID-19 rapid antigen self-tests that are approved in Australia
- Fact sheets for COVID-19 oral anti viral treatments in residential aged care
- Oral treatment for COVID-19 - provides a section on preparing an oral solution
Resident COVID-19 vaccination rates by facility available via health.gov.au
From today, COVID-19 vaccination rates of residents by aged care facility will be publicly available on the Department’s website.
Aggregated de-identified COVID-19 vaccination rates for residents at a residential aged care facility level will be available, including in a new interactive map. Data will be updated weekly.
To protect the personal information of individuals:
- a facility's resident vaccination rate is displayed within a range (for example 80-89%)
- the size of the range is based on the number of residents at that residential aged care facility
- larger percentage ranges is used when reporting vaccination rates for residential aged care facilities with less than 20 residents
- data for facilities with fewer than 5 residents is not included.
The publication of resident COVID-19 vaccination rates complies with privacy laws and policies relevant to the electronic publishing of health data.
COVID-19 vaccination for aged care residents
Residential aged care facilities are responsible for ensuring residents have access to the recommended additional Winter booster dose as soon as they are eligible.
When scheduling Winter dose vaccination for residents:
- Consider a multi-faceted approach to vaccination, combining Commonwealth in-reach and primary care clinics.
- If required, request multiple Commonwealth in-reach clinics to vaccinate your residents as they become eligible. You are not required to have a minimum number of residents and vulnerable workers eligible before scheduling an in-reach clinic.
- Remember - there is no requirement for an interval between flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.
Do not wait for your Winter dose vaccine clinic to administer Winter doses to residents. If you have residents and workers who are eligible to receive their Winter dose before your scheduled clinic, you are strongly encouraged to organise vaccination now through a primary care provider.
Information to support Winter dose vaccination is available on the Department’s website.