SEMPHN’s role in COVID-19 vaccinations in RACHs

From 1 July 2026, SEMPHN is no longer funded to support residential aged care homes (RACHs) with COVID-19 vaccinations. From that date, SEMPHN will no longer play a role in monitoring vaccination rates or be available to facilitate a replacement or temporary vaccinator.  

Vaccines are principally administered in RACHs by primary care providers such as general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists. RACHs are strongly encouraged to set up an ongoing vaccination relationship, for example, with a provider associated with your RACH. If that is not possible or a temporary vaccinator is required, you can reach out to agedcare@semphn.org.au to discuss options. 

Managing COVID-19 vaccinations

Planning for bi-annual COVID-19 vaccinations plays an important role in ensuring residents stay protected. The information provided below can be considered in planning for all vaccinations, including COVID-19. 

1. Planning. Use an annual schedule for all vaccinations. The Department of Health, Disability and the Ageing’s (DHDA’s) planning checklist offers a template and detailed tips.   
2. Formalise arrangements with a vaccinator. Formalise a preferred a vaccinator if you don’t already have one. This could be managed centrally by an RACH operator, or directly with a GP/GPs associated with the RACH or residents, or the RACH’s pharmacist.  
3. Understand the vaccination status for an RACH and individual residents. RACHs can check their vaccination status using data available on DHDA’s website. RACHs should consider a vaccination day before the rate drops below 30%. Data is released monthly.  The vaccination status of individual residents can be obtained by contacting your vaccination provider or by using DHDA’s vaccination eligibility tool here. 
4. Be prepared for consent conversations. The following information provides useful background for use in conversations related to consent: 

• Consent for COVID-19 vaccination for older people, including aged care residents, families and carers (DHDA)  
• COVID-19 vaccination – Patient resources (DHDA) 
• SKAI (Sharing Knowledge about Immunisations) provides evidence-based information and resources to support conversations between healthcare professionals and community members   
• COVID-19 vaccine information focussed on safety data on AusVaxSafety.  

5. Provide information in other languages. The NSW Department of Health has developed a COVID-19 infection and vaccination factsheet in 11 languages. The factsheet was developed to support RACH staff to promote a range of vaccinations including COVID-19. 

6. Understand clinical and other requirements. Utilise the following resources available to better understand and plan such as:  

• Winter 2026 vaccination information including COVID-19, Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (DHDA)  
• COVID-19 ‘Blue book’ (Department of Health VIC)  
• the COVID-19 extract from the Australian Immunisation Handbook (Australian Centre for Disease Control)  
• COVID-19 background and management (Australian Centre for Disease Control)  

Other resources

The following resources have been collated to assist with understanding the clinical and other resources available to help prevent and manage COVID-19 and other illnesses in RACHs. 

SEMPHN's collection of COVID-19 materials can be found here.