Information updates

Updated ASCIA COVID-19 Information

ASCIA Allergy, Immunodeficiency, Autoimmunity and COVID-19 Vaccination - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for patients, consumers and carers has been updated In response to the arrival of the Moderna Spikevax vaccine in Australia and is available open access at www.allergy.org.au/patients/ascia-covid-19-vaccination-faq

ASCIA develops and updates this FAQ as a service to ASCIA members and the public for the following reasons:

COVID-19 vaccines available in Australia and New Zealand are effective and safe for people with allergies, immunodeficiencies or autoimmune conditions, as they are not live-attenuated vaccines and do not contain food allergens.
COVID-19 vaccination is an important way to reduce the risk of developing disease and spreading COVID-19 in the community.
COVID-19 vaccination information needs to be accessible, consistent, evidence-based and from a reliable source.

ASCIA Allergy, Immunodeficiency, Autoimmunity and COVID-19 Vaccination FAQ has been viewed around 100,000 times since it was first published in February 2021, including more than 33,000 views in August 2021. ASCIA will continue to review and update the FAQ as new information is available.

ReadSpeaker is available on the ASCIA COVID-19 vaccination FAQ webpage, to improve access for people with:

Vision impairment, limited reading ability or learning disabilities, by allowing text to speech (TTS).
Non-English speaking backgrounds - information can be translated into 20 different languages by highlighting the text and selecting 'translate’.

ASCIA COVID-19 vaccination information for health professionals has also been updated and is available on the ASCIA website www.allergy.org.au/members/covid-19#cd1

The specific weblinks are as follows: