Prepare for winter

Winter booster and influenza vaccine

2022 influenza vaccination is recommended for people aged six months and over. We expect more cases of influenza this winter compared to the previous two years, as lock-down and other Covid-safe restrictions have eased, and social gatherings indoors are increasing.

The government is recommending an additional booster (fourth dose) of COVID-19 vaccine to increase protection over the cooler months for:

* Adults 65+ years

* Aged care and disability care facility residents

* People 16+ years who are severely immunocompromised (for this group it will be your 5th dose)

* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 50+ years.

The booster can be given four or more months after the previous booster, or four months after confirmed COVID-19 infection.

The roll-out of winter boosters commences in early April, at the same time as the 2022 influenza vaccination program and the two vaccinations can be given on the same day.

Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for the winter booster as it has evidence of being the most effective, but AstraZeneca can be used when an mRNA vaccine is contraindicated. Novavax can be used if no other COVID-19 vaccine is considered suitable.

Japanese Encephalitis (JE)

JE has been identified in commercial piggeries in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

The virus is spread when Culex species mosquitoes bite an infected animal and then bite a human. Infection risk is highest among people working at and/or living close to piggeries that have tested positive for JE.

Until recently, Bulli Medical Practice provided vaccination against JE as part of our travel medicine service for travellers to parts of Asia or the Pacific where the virus is endemic. Now all our stock of the JE vaccine has been sequestered by the government to be allocated to priority groups.

For more, read the NSW Health Fact Sheet.