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Vaccination

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Vaccination rates fall.

‘Really urgent’: Teen vaccine rates tumble, leaving cancer elimination in doubt

Australia’s ambitious goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035 is under threat amid a worrying decline in HPV vaccinations across the country.

  • Melissa Cunningham

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Chlaymdia is one of the many threats Australia’s dwindling koala population faces.

‘Crazy mistake’ undermines historic koala chlamydia vaccine, researcher says

The vaccine a decade in the making had been heralded as a cure for one of the biggest koala killers out there.

  • Julius Dennis
Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls received his flu vaccination on Tuesday before announcing an expansion of the state’s needle-free flu mist program.

Young ‘superspreaders’ targeted in bid to avoid repeat of deadly flu season

The state hopes an expansion of its nasal spray flu vaccine program will encourage more people to get inoculated following last year’s horror flu season.

  • Courtney Kruk
US President Donald Trump.

‘Sleazebags and losers’: The proof that Trumpism is here to stay

A series of primary election results in red states shows that among Republicans, Donald Trump remains as potent a political force as he has ever been.

  • Michael Koziol
Four-month-old Zyven receives his routine polio immunisation at Tokorara Urban Health Clinic in Port Moresby. The clinic is one of dozens gearing up for a third vaccination campaign since a polio outbreak was declared last May.

Inside the fight to stamp out polio in one of Australia’s closest neighbours

As Australia’s childhood vaccination rates continue to fall, Papua New Guinea’s outbreak shows what can happen when herd immunity is lost.

  • Angus Thomson
A passenger receives a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Jakarta Kota train station in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Poliovirus strain detected in WA for the first time

Vaccine-derived poliovirus is rare but can occur in parts of the world where the oral polio vaccine is still used. This is the first time this strain has been detected in Australia.

  • Holly Thompson
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Free RSV vaccinations will be made available to people aged over 75 years.

Older Australians to receive free RSV vaccinations

The federal government program that already offers free jabs during pregnancy will be expanded to include over-75s, amid concerns about grandparents catching the virus from children.

  • Mike Foley
Dr Annalyse Crane giving three-year-old Hamish Gray his first nasal spray flu vaccine at Family Medical Practice in Kirrawee, alongside his father, Ben.

How to keep your child safe from the flu – without a needle

Two-thirds of children are terrified of needles. Now, they don’t need one to be protected from the flu.

  • Angus Thomson
The proportion of fully vaccinated one-year-olds fell to 90.5 per cent in 2025, down more than four percentage points from five years ago, analysis released by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) on Wednesday reveals.

These diseases are on the rise. Eighty thousand children are unprotected

Vaccination rates have fallen for a fifth year in a row, leaving children unprotected against resurgent diseases, including measles and whooping cough.

  • Angus Thomson
Measles is often characterised by a rash that spreads across the body.

Revealed: Why measles is circulating undetected in Sydney

The highly contagious virus has been detected in three people whose infections could not be traced to known exposure sites and who had not recently travelled overseas.

  • Kate Aubusson