As Australia gets the COVID-19 vaccine rollout underway, many hope to return to life in the “new normal”. However, the Australian government has also made it mandatory for some workers to be fully vaccinated or have at least one dose in order for them to stay employed.
More specifically, vaccinations have become mandatory for aged care workers by September. Hospital staff and contractors are also required to be partially or fully vaccinated. However, their timelines differ from state to state.
This is where vaccination management comes into play.
With vaccination regulations differing from state to state, a lot can change in a matter of days. This makes it difficult for healthcare organisations to keep up. Not only do these organisations have to ensure their workers are vaccinated accordingly, but they also have to make sure that this vaccination evidence is real.
Having a vaccination management system in place would mean that this will automate the process of collection and verifying vaccination evidence. This thus makes it easier for organisations to remain compliant and avoid any unnecessary penalties.
Let us now delve deeper into what a vaccination management solution can do!
What is Vaccination Management?
As the world gradually opens up, it has become increasingly important for people to be vaccinated before returning to the workplace. The challenges that workplaces face include communicating effectively, enforcing and tracking the vaccination policies with their employees.
This is especially important for healthcare organisations as they need to quickly find a way to track their staff and contractors’ vaccination status securely. In addition, to fulfil government compliance requirements, these organisations need a way to retrieve the required data.
An automated vaccination management solution, like Zipline’s, can help. This software can help optimise and streamline the entire vaccination collection and verification process. When using the vaccination management, staff and contractors can upload their vaccination evidence prior to their shift.
When vaccination evidence is uploaded, the software will automatically store and verify the validity of the evidence. In the case where the vaccination evidence does not pass the authenticity check, staff and contractors will be contacted. They will be asked to re-upload their vaccination evidence.
Another important job that the vaccination management solution does is to keep track of the ever-changing vaccination requirements. It automates the entire compliance process and ensures organisations are aware of any changes and remain compliant.
Further, all the data collected via the vaccination management solution will be collected and stored securely. Thus, if the organisation needs to extrapolate some information for reporting, they can do so easily. This helps get rid of the labour-intensive administrative task of manually compiling data.
Why do you need it?
With an understanding of what vaccination management is, let’s look into its benefits!
Stay compliant
One of the most significant benefits of having such software is your organisation can achieve full compliance with the government’s regulations. While we know the government is slowly making vaccination mandatory, unfortunately, the regulations are not consistent between all states.
Additionally, organisations also have to ensure that the vaccinations collected are not fake and random pictures that get uploaded. In some states, healthcare organisations face up to a $100k non-compliance fine.
Different vaccination requirements by states
Let’s just briefly go through the different requirements by state to understand the complexity of this issue.
- NSW:
- According to the Public Health (COVID-19 Vaccination of Health Care Workers) Order 2021 announced on 26th August, staff & contractors must have one dose as of 30th September. They must have two doses by 30th November.
- VIC:
- In Victoria, healthcare workers need to have at least one dose by 15th October. Otherwise, they need to prove they at least have an appointment before 1st November to continue their employment.
- QLD:
- While there are no official directives announced yet, multiple sources claim that single-dose vaccination is needed from 30th September. Then, the second dose is needed from 31st October.
- WA:
- From the Health Worker (Restrictions on Access) Directions (No 2) announced on 17th September, staff and contractors must have one dose as of 1st October to enter tier 1 facilities. Further, by 1 January 2022, all health workers need to have two doses.
- SA:
- The Immunisation for Health Care Workers and Quarantine Workers in South Australia Policy Directive does not require health workers to be vaccinated. However, the state strongly recommends health care workers be vaccinated.
- TAS:
- Based on the Health Care Settings announced on 10 September, there is a requirement to be fully vaccinated by 31st October.
- ACT:
- No updates yet.
With so many regulations to keep up with, it is essential that organisations, especially those with sites across the different states, use a vaccination management solution to ensure 100% compliance.
Reduce costs
Another benefit that your organisation can get with vaccination management is reducing costs. One way this reduces costs is to eliminate the labour-intensive task of manually recording and validating vaccination evidence.
Relying on a team to collect and validate vaccination evidence is not ideal as human errors might occur. Further, it would cost more to have 2-3 people designated to this than having a system that can do the same.
A vaccination management system has the ability to automate the entire process. It can also provide real-time insights which can help inform organisations’ business decisions. This will help managers have one single source of truth when it comes to ensuring the people who need to be vaccinated within their workforce are at the right times.
In summary
Vaccination requirements are different based on states and timelines. As the Australian government shifts its stance towards mandatory vaccination, healthcare organisations must comply with these regulations. By utilising a vaccination management system, you no longer have to worry about ever-changing regulations and compliance issues.
Zipline’s effortless vaccination management is the one you need. With a dedicated compliance team and diverse functions on our vaccine management software, let us help you stay compliant with ever-changing state regulations.
