TASMANIAN Health Minister Michael Ferguson yesterday announced the extension of the state's free vaccination program against meningococcal disease, with pharmacists among the health professionals who will administer the immunisations.
Ferguson said the program would cover people aged between six weeks and 20 years, with the move following five recently confirmed cases of the disease in the Hobart area, including one death.
All Tasmanians born after 01 Aug 1997 are eligible, with this cohort having been identified as the group at greatest risk of contracting and spreading the disease.
Pharmacists will be permitted to administer the meningococcal vaccine to children aged ten and over, with the jabs to cover strains A, C, W and Y.
Pharmacy stakeholders have hailed the move, which sees pharmacists' scope of practice extended from the previous Tas restriction to only administer flu vaccines and brings the state more in line with some other jurisdictions.
Pharmacy Guild Tasmanian Branch President, Madeleine Bowerman, said the meningococcal expansion was "a safe, and sensible use of the medicine expertise and high accessibility of community pharmacies across the state."
PSA National President Shane Jackson said "this is a welcome response by the Tasmanian Government to a major public health need.
"This is another step forward in reducing the impact of vaccine-preventable disease in Australia."
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