SOUTH Australia's expansion of its official Vaccine List (PD breaking news Fri) puts the state at the forefront of immunisation availability through pharmacies.
As well as being able to administer 10 additional types of vaccinations, SA pharmacists are also now able to give the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, as well as the diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine (dTpa) and the diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and polio vaccine (DtPa-IPV) to South Australians aged 10 years and older.
SA Health Minister, Chris Picton, said the simple change would lessen the load for general practitioners while increasing vaccine access.
"South Australians will now have the most extensive access to pharmacy-administered vaccines in the country.
"We want to do what's within our power as a state government to lessen the load on our incredibly burdened GPs...this is one simple measure to do just that, with pharmacists as trusted health professionals ready and willing to step in," Picton said.
Other vaccines now available through South Australian pharmacies include the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine for people five years and older, as well as inactivated polio, Hib, meningococcal ACWY, meningococcal B, hepatitis A and hepatitis B, HPV, Varicella for those 10 years and up, and the herpes zoster vaccine for patients 50 years and over.
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