Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ)
More children under five years old should be able to be vaccinated in pharmacies from January 2027 under a range of measures designed to boost vaccine coverage announced in this year’s federal budget.
Other measures include funding to send families SMS reminders and targeted information when their child’s vaccines are due.
These measures aim to stem a decline in childhood vaccine coverage we’ve seen since 2020.
What’s the issue?
Vaccine coverage in Australian children has been steadily declining since 2020. The latest data show a drop in fully vaccinated 12-month-olds from 94.8% in 2020 to 90.5% in 2025.
On-time vaccination (getting a routine vaccine within 30 days of the recommended age) has dropped even further compared with levels before the COVID pandemic.
In 2025, nearly two in five children received the first dose of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine (recommended at 12 months old) late. One in five children received their second dose of a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP)-containing vaccine late.
Two out of ten adolescents had not received a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine dose by 15 years of age. Three out of ten had not received an adolescent dose of meningococcal ACWY vaccine by 17 years of age.
Return of ‘old foes’
The declines in coverage are occurring at a time when we have seen a global rise in vaccine preventable diseases.
Measles cases have risen globally and led to the loss of measles elimination status in many countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. In Australia, there have already been more than 100 measles cases this year.
We’re battling Australia’s worst diphtheria outbreak in decades with more than 425 cases in 2026 (mostly in the Northern Territory and Western Australia). This is a scenario that could be curbed by vaccines.
This, coupled with the detection of polio in sewage in Western Australia, is a timely reminder to make sure you and your children are up to date with your routine vaccines.
Read more:
Australia is battling its worst diphtheria outbreak in decades. But vaccines could curb it
Why the decline?
There are many reasons why vaccination coverage is falling, including:
- a decline in trust of health-care providers
- concerns about safety and efficacy of vaccines
- proliferation of online health-related misinformation
- practical barriers (such as out-of-pocket costs, convenience and access to vaccine providers)
- a shortage of doctors, nurses and Aboriginal health workers, especially in rural areas, making it harder to get appointments or access walk-in clinics.
A 2025 national survey asked parents of children under five about barriers to vaccination. More than half of parents of partially vaccinated children said vaccines were unsafe and did not trust information about vaccines from healthcare providers.
A survey of Australian parents looked at the impact of the COVID pandemic on trust and confidence in routine vaccinations. It found that between 2017 and 2023 there was an increase in the proportions of parents expressing ideas about childhood vaccinations that have been shown to be incorrect. These included that vaccine ingredients were unsafe, vaccines cause autism and children received too many vaccines.
Are there safety concerns?
The vaccines recommended and used in the childhood national immunisation program a decade ago are essentially the same ones used today.
Australia has about 300,000 births recorded annually, with an estimated coverage of 90% for infant vaccines. This means about 2.5 million infants have received vaccines over the past decade since 2015.
Australia also has a comprehensive system to detect serious safety signals. If there were any serious issues related to national immunisation program vaccines over this time, we’d have spotted them by now – we haven’t.
How will the new measures help?
Family life is busy so being able to get your kids vaccinated at pharmacies free of charge will hopefully make it easier to stay on top of vaccinations and get vaccinated on time.
This year, the new nasal flu vaccine, registered for children aged two to under 18 years, is available in some pharmacies. However, access and eligible ages for free flu vaccine vary by jurisdiction.
Currently, children aged five and older can already receive childhood vaccines in pharmacies under the National Immunisation Program Vaccination in Pharmacies program.
From January 1 2027, children under five years should also be able to get their childhood vaccines in pharmacies in the new expanded program. A health department spokesperson confirmed to The Conversation that at this stage, participating pharmacies would start doing so from next year, where state and territory legislation permitted it.
These timely initiatives target barriers to accessing vaccination. So they are an important step to stop further declines in coverage and restore community protection against further resurgence of vaccine preventable disease.
Nicholas Wood has previously received funding from the NHMRC and Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) for immunisation related research.
Lucy Deng does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/09/more-pharmacists-will-be-able-to-vaccinate-children-under-5-heres-what-you-need-to-know/