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Coding for vaccinations by disease types

Provides details on how the API uses the create or update interactions to identify records according to the code(s).

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Vaccination record support

The Immunisation FHIR API is currently configured to support vaccination records for the following vaccine types:

  • RSV
  • COVID19
  • Flu
  • MMR

Some vaccine types may only be available in the test environments or private beta pending full roll out approvals. Check the status for current availability. 

How this applies to vaccinations submitted to the API

When submitting a vaccination record to the API using the create or update interaction, the API will identify the record and validate it as a supported vaccine type according to the code(s) provided in the protocolApplied.targetDisease element.

This is strictly configured to the following mapping:

Vaccination type Disease type SMOMED CT concept(s)
RSV 55735004 | Respiratory syncytial virus infection
COVID-19 840539006 | Disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
FLU 6142004 | Influenza
MMR 14189004 | Measles
36989005 | Mumps
36653000 | Rubella

Coding for vaccination types

You must ensure this coding is accurately applied to the records you submit. Authorisation is set according to the vaccination type. The API does not use the vaccine procedure code or the vaccine product to determine the vaccine type.

If the targetDisease is not coded to a valid code or code combination as defined by the disorder codes above, or you have not onboarded to submit vaccination records for that vaccine type, then record submission will fail validation and an appropriate error returned. See the Immunisation FHIR API for details of errors.

When searching for vaccination records, you must use the custom search codes which are defined in the OAS search parameters. You may search for more than one vaccine type. For example, if you want to retrieve the patient vaccination records for COVID19 and flu vaccinations.

If you receive vaccination records for more than one vaccine type, you must use the protocolApplied.targetDisease and code mapping above if you need to sort, filter or otherwise separate the records by vaccine type after you have retrieved them in a single call.

Using any other element to determine this adds complication and is not aligned with how the original record was originally indexed and subsequently retrieved for the search.

Example

Example
"protocolApplied": [
{
"targetDisease": [
{
"coding": [
{
"system": "http://snomed.info/sct",
"code": "55735004",
"display": "Respiratory syncytial virus infection (disorder)"
}
]
}
],
"doseNumberPositiveInt": 1
}
]

Last edited: 6 May 2025 10:43 am