MMR announcements
Catch up on news and announcements regarding the MMR vaccine. Latest news will be featured on the Vaccine Clinic Hub homepage.
May 2023
New childhood immunisation resources – 10 May 2023
By Māori for Māori
In collaboration with Te Aka Whai Ora, new Māori specific childhood immunisation resources promoting the benefits of immunisation are now available on Dropbox - Childhood immunisation - Simplify your life.
There are three videos that you are encouraged to share widely:
- The first video is with Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen who takes the sting out of immunisation by explaining how they keep us safe. He also provides the ingoa Māori for immunisation which is ‘he rongoā ārai mate’ which translates to a medicine that prevents illness.
- The second video provides some new kupu for immunisations like polio, rotavirus and measles.
- The third video is reo rua and a kōhanga reo whānau explaining the importance of looking after tamariki and mokopuna and why they chose to get their pepi immunised.
Four social media tiles are also available in poster print format and digital screen displays to promote immunisation. Each poster has a different message, including: Get your immunisations up to date, Keeping your mokopuna safe and Protecting our tamariki for life.
Posters can also be ordered via Bluestar.
By Pacific for Pacific
In partnership with Pacific Public Health, Pacific specific childhood immunisation resources have been developed to engage Pacific parents and families, to help prioritise immunisations for their children. The resources include two short videos and posters of Pacific parents prioritising their children’s immunisations while balancing their family responsibilities. An additional poster has been developed with professional rugby player, Dhys Faleafaga, with her twin boys.
The videos, posters and social tiles are available on Dropbox and the posters can be printed and ordered via Bluestar portal.
Posters will be available in the Bluestar portal and can be ordered. Once on the portal, orders will go on backorder until the stock is printed.
Important Measles information – 10 May 2023
With the report of measles in Tāmaki Makaurau on May 3, please see attached the links to the various resources that have been developed to enable you to ensure our communities and whānau remain informed. Below are some patient focused FAQs you may want to share through your practice communications channels.
If measles is suspected:
- Please notify the Medical Officer of Health as soon as you suspect measles – do not wait for a laboratory confirmation.
- Arrange nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal sampling, using viral swab, for measles PCR. Include clinical details and symptom onset. Contact local laboratory if further information on testing is required.
- Isolate patient immediately and maintain IPC measures.
- Check Health Pathways for further up-to-date measles assessment and management information.
- Please consider active recall to vaccinate enrolled patients and opportunistic MMR vaccination. Use Priority Childhood Immunisation Matrix to guide immunisation activity. Māori and Pacific infants are highest priority populations.
- The latest media release is available here: https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/about-us/news-and-updates/new-measles-case-prompts-school-closure-for-contact-tracing/
- Primary care is encouraged to find out if their staff are immune to measles. If there is measles exposure on-site, immunisation records may be requested.
Resources
On the Te Whatu Ora website, you will find:
- A general information factsheet about measles
- Poster to be put up in public places asking for people to stay home if they have measles
- Posters for venues where an exposure event has taken place to sign post potential contacts to further information
- Poster for venues where an exposure event has taken place, to provide details of when exposure event took place and what potential contacts should do next.
All posters are available in 18 additional languages
The National Immunisation Programme has a Dropbox of resources to help promote MMR vaccination. These are available for free download.
Public focused FAQs
Where can people get vaccinated? You can get your free Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine at your General Practice, hauora Māori or Pacific provider and at many pharmacies.
Some pharmacies are unable to provide vaccinations to people under the age of 3 years, if this is the case in your area you will need to go to your primary care health provider for the free vaccine. Call your local pharmacy to check if they provide MMR vaccines. Or, to find your local pharmacy that provides this service, visit www.healthpoint.co.nz and type ‘MMR vaccine’ into the search box. Many pharmacies will allow walk-ins but it’s a good idea to call ahead to check.
You’ll need a total of 2 doses to be fully protected and they need to be at least a month apart.
How infectious is measles? Measles is a very serious illness that can spread easily amongst those that are not immune. It is much more contagious than COVID-19, particularly amongst people who aren’t immune.
The best protection against measles is to be vaccinated with two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. It is safe to have an extra MMR vaccination if you can’t prove you have had two doses.
The MMR vaccine is free. If you or anyone in your whānau born on or after 1 January 1969 has not had an MMR vaccine, or aren't sure, ask your General Practice, hauora Māori or Pacific provider, parent or caregiver. If you can’t confirm two doses were given, play it safe and get vaccinated. There are no safety concerns with having an extra dose.
What are the symptoms of measles? Symptoms can include a fever, cough, runny nose and sore and watery ‘pink’ eyes. These are followed by a blotchy rash. If you catch measles, you are infectious from four days before and until four days after the rash appears.
What should people do if they experience symptoms? If you have symptoms, you should call your General Practice, hauora Māori or Pacific provider or Healthline on 0800 611 116. If you need to visit your primary care health provider or an after-hours clinic, phone ahead first to limit the risk of the virus being spread to other people. Because measles is so infectious, it’s important that those that have been diagnosed with measles isolate (i.e. staying at home unless seeking healthcare). People who have measles will need to isolate until four days after the rash first appears.
What does this case mean for New Zealand? Public health teams are currently tracing contacts of the case to check immunity, manage them appropriately and offer vaccination where appropriate.
We are all aware of how infectious measles is from the last outbreak in Auckland and Northland in 2019. The most important thing that people can do to protect themselves is to ensure they are immunised, along with their tamariki. Vaccination is the best protection against measles.
April 2023
Second checker course now live via the IMAC Learning Portal – 24 April 2023
The Second-Checker course is now available via the IMAC website and registration is free.
- The course is approximately 2 hours long, completed online, includes an assessment, and on completion generates a certificate.
- Access is via IMAC’s new LMS – Second Checker Course (LINK)
Who it is for
This course is designed for non-registered team members such as kaiāwhina, health care assistants, administration staff, pharmacy technicians and assistants to enable them to complete independent specific checks of the vaccine preparation process in settings where there may be limited clinical staff onsite.
The primary aim
The primary aim of the Second Checker role is to reduce the risk of vaccine errors. The authorised vaccinator (a registered health professional) has overall responsibility for checking vaccines before administration to a consumer, however, a team member that completes the Second Checker course can work alongside the registered vaccinator to support accuracy.
Free access to all healthcare professionals
This is an amazing resource for non-clinical staff to get involved in the vaccinating space, and support clinical staff.
However, we encourage authorised vaccinators, and other clinicians to also complete this free course to understand the content, and what this course enables a second checker to do. It is a good refresher for us all.
Childhood Immunisation Campaign – 18 April 2023
From mid-April, the National Immunisation Programme will be running an advertising campaign across the motu, promoting childhood immunisations. The campaign is led with two different TV adverts, updating last years “Acts of Aroha” creative with charming scenes of parents and caregivers protecting their tamaraki.
The objectives of the marketing communications for Childhood Immunisation are to:
- Ensure parents and caregivers prioritise immunising their tamariki
- Are aware that immunising their child is the most effective way to protect them from serious diseases
- Understand that their child needs certain immunisations at specific times throughout their life
- Reassure them that if any recommended vaccinations are missed, they can catch up
A suite of communications activities intended to prioritise whānau who have fallen behind their scheduled vaccinations has been developed.
Appearing on mainstream free-to-air channels, Sky TV, and Māori television, as well as TVNZ+ and ThreeNOW, the TV media will run until 4th June. TV will be supported by targeted YouTube and online video placements, as well as screens in medical centres, partner packs, collateral updates, and immunise.health.nz.
Tik Tok video promotion
NIP recently collaborated with a Pacific social media influencer to help promote childhood immunisations messages.
Dhys Faleafaga is a former Black Ferns sevens player, now playing for the Chiefs and has over 250k Tik Tok followers. Dhys, together with her partner Tone Ng Shiu (current All Blacks sevens player), developed a Tik Tok video with their twin babies with the prioritise to immunise message. After one week, the Tik Tok video had over 180k views and over 25k likes. You can watch it here.
www.immunise.health.nz
Website was launched mid-March 2023 that provides a hub for parents with all the information they need to make the best decision to get tamariki immunised and to catch up where appointments have been missed.
The Immunisation Pānui
The Immunisation Pānui contains updates on direct marketing, advertising, etc. and access to the Immunisation Dropbox which contains all collateral:
- If you do not receive this but would like to be on the list, send an email to Sandy Thambiah (Sandy.Thambiah@health.govt.nz)
- Here is the Dropbox link for all immunisation collateral: Dropbox: National Immunisation Programme – immunisation collateralThis is also li nked in the Key Links section at the top of this page.
Updated Immunisation Handbook v22 – 17 April 2023
On 11 April 2023, the Ministry of Health released version 22 of the Immunisation Handbook 2020.
You can find the handbook online here, or download it in full here. You can also find it in the Key Links section at the top of this page.
WEBINAR: World Hand Hygiene Day – 17 April 2023
Date: 27 April 2023
Time: 1pm-2pm
The webinar will be delivered via Zoom. Please email to register: hhnz@hqsc.govt.nz
Good hand hygiene is one of the simplest, most effective ways to prevent the spread of healthcare-associated infections, which makes it a key patient safety priority.
Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission (Te Tāhū Hauora) has led Hand Hygiene New Zealand (HHNZ), a national quality improvement programme to improve hand hygiene practice in Te Whatu Ora districts and private surgical hospitals throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. The programme is part of the Te Tāhū Hauora infection prevention and control programme, which aims to reduce the harm and cost of healthcare-associated infections.
HHNZ uses the World Health Organization’s multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy to drive culture change and establish best hand hygiene practice for every patient, every time.
In this webinar, the audience will hear from three speakers about quality improvement projects that have been implemented successfully as part of a local HHNZ programme.
Please share this event page with your colleagues and networks.
Who should attend?
Anyone who is involved in an HHNZ programme, including:
- hand hygiene leads and coordinators
- gold auditors
- personnel working in quality and patient safety
- infection prevention and control professionals.
Speakers
- Cath Robbins – National Infection Prevention and Control Programme, Southern Cross Healthcare. Cath will share the campaign that the infection prevention and control team recently rolled out across the Southern Cross hospital network. The campaign uses refreshed hand hygiene posters and hand hygiene ambassadors to improve hand hygiene compliance.
- Carmel Hurley-Watts – Waitaha Canterbury hand hygiene coordinator. Carmel will share the work undertaken in Waitaha Canterbury to improve hand hygiene access for patients and the district’s recent improvements with the visibility of their hand hygiene compliance rates.
- Vicki McKenzie – Infection prevention and control nurse, Bidwell Trust Hospital. Vicki will describe how she introduced the concept of ‘Take a moment’ to allow for point-of-care feedback and reflection on missed hand hygiene moments.
Registration
The webinar will be delivered via Zoom. Please email to register: hhnz@hqsc.govt.nz
If you have questions about this event, please email: hhnz@hqsc.govt.nz.
Is your healthpoint up to date? – 12 April 2023
Healthpoint has developed its back-end functions to allow providers to better indicate the services they offer. This includes tick boxes for most vaccinations, as well as the ability to add any services that are not listed.
It is really important you keep your healthpoint page up to date with the services you offer, your hours and how people can book in or if walk-ins are available. Nationally led campaigns for a number of vaccinations direct people to healthpoint to find a service near them, and it is also used by Healthline to support consumers to access services.
If you need support updating your page, contact helpdesk@healthpoint.co.nz.
Release of the Immunisation Taskforce report – 11 April 2023
On 6 April, the NIP released the Immunisation Taskforce Report. The Report provides advice to Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora on how we can best utilise our size and scale to rapidly improve immunisation rates for tamariki and achieve equity across all population groups. The Report includes 54 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by Te Whatu Ora, with 26 already underway.
The media release, which includes a link to the Immunisation Taskforce Report, is published on the Te Whatu Ora Website.
March 2023
IMAC bridging course pathway – 27 March 2023
The IMAC Vaccinator Bridging Course will end on 30 April 2023.
This course is a temporary pathway for eligible and interested provisionally authorised vaccinators to become fully authorised vaccinators.
People who have completed the course but have not completed the other requirements as outlined in the Immunisation Handbook Appendix 4 are encouraged to do this and apply to their local Medical Officer of Health for full vaccinator authorisation.
People who are eligible and interested in this course are encouraged to enrol now. For course dates please view IMAC website and register.
Māori and Pacific immunisation providers who wish to organise an in-person 1-day course for their team before 30 April 2023 should contact the below local IMAC education team.
- Northern - Lisa Box, Northern Regional Immunisation Advisor
- Midlands - Janet Collins, Midlands Senior Immunisation Education Facilitator
- Central – Shelley Kininmonth, Central Regional Immunisation Advisor
- Southern – Sue Rogers, Southern Regional Immunisation Advisor
If you wish to become a fully authorised vaccinator after the closing of the Vaccinator Bridging course, this can be achieved via the Vaccinator Foundation Course pathway. Registered and enrolled nurses and nurse practitioners, and registered pharmacists, are eligible for the Vaccinator Foundation Course.
The Provisional Vaccinator Update Course will end on 16 June 2023.
The authorisation certificates issued by Te Whatu Ora or the Ministry of Health to Provisional Authorised Vaccinators are valid for two years (from issue date). Vaccinator training is also valid for two years from the date it is completed. To maintain authorisation status, vaccinator training must be kept current. If training expires before the authorisation end date, Provisional Authorised Vaccinators must complete the Provisional Vaccinator Update Course to continue to vaccinate.
To access this course, please email Te Whatu Ora, Vaccinator Authorisations Team vaccinatorauthorisations@health.govt.nz to get the package code to access the online course on IMAC’s learning online platform.
If you wish to become a fully authorised vaccinator after the closing of the Provisional Vaccinator Update Course or your Provisional Authorised Vaccinator certificate has expired, you can become part of the immunisation workforce via the Vaccinator Foundation Course pathway. Registered and enrolled nurses and nurse practitioners, registered pharmacists are eligible for the Vaccinator Foundation Course.
For any enquiries, please email imaceducation@auckland.ac.nz
New Immunisation website – 27 March 2023
We're pleased to let you know the new immunisation website – https://www.immunise.health.nz/ –is now live. This has been a real team effort with many partners, providers and stakeholders involved in getting us to this point.
This new Te Whatu Ora website has been developed to meet a critical gap in the information currently available online to whānau when making decisions about immunisations for their tamariki, rangatahi and themselves. It will also be a key component of a wider programme of focused communications to support our goal to increase childhood immunisation getting underway in April.
Although the site has a child immunisation focus – the content has been written to cover wider whānau immunisations too.
We hope the site feels relevant to all people living in Aotearoa New Zealand - and is warm, friendly, reassuring, and easy to understand.
A new tool we’re particularly excited about is the ability to create a personalised immunisation schedule for a child: https://www.immunise.health.nz/get-a-personalised-immunisation-schedule/
Please take some time to look around and feedback on anything – whether positive or negative. We’re particularly keen to hear what you think might be missing. This is the first phase and we will continue to build on the foundation it presents.
At the moment we’re sharing the site with the sector in order to gather feedback, and in a couple of weeks, we’ll start to actively drive traffic to the site. We look forward to hearing what you think.
MMR promotion – 27 March 2023
This week, the National Immunisation Programme continued to reach out to people born between 1989 and 2004, some of whom may not have received both doses of the MMR vaccine. Direct and digital channels are being used to reach people in most of the regions not previously contacted.
Contact is happening primarily via email, with text message as a backup where we do not have people’s email addresses. There will also be an outbound calling campaign to support this MMR promotion.
General information about measles and the MMR vaccine can be found on both Te Whatu Ora and Ministry of Health websites.
New website for Childhood Immunisation to go live mid-March – 13 March 2023
The National Immunisation Programme Communications and Engagement team is developing a public-facing microsite that enables parents, caregivers, and their whānau to understand why immunisation is so important for pēpi, tarmariki,and rangatahi.
The new website will provide information about why vaccination is important, what vaccinations are recommended and available, appropriate age these vaccines are administered, and where and how to get these vaccinations.
It will also support a wider childhood immunisation campaign that will include paid advertising, social media content, and marketing collateral.
IMAC WEBINAR: Vaccinating Health Workers and new Stage 2 training – 7 March 2023
Date: Wednesday 15 March 2023, 12-1pm
Teams live event - follow this link to attend the webinar
The webinar is for any potential or current employers of VHWs, their supervisors or VHWs themselves.
The webinar will cover:
1. The Journey of the VHW role so far
2. Detail on the new VHW Stage 2 training
3. Experiences of Māori and Pharmacist providers employing VHWs (TBC)
4. Walk through on how to access the training and the new IMAC Learning Management System (LMS)
5. Where to next for the VHW
6. Questions and answers
February 2023
National Immunisation Programme’s stakeholder hui recording – 21 February 2023
Thank you to those who attended the NIP stakeholder hui held last week.
At the hui Dr Caroline Hart provided a clinical update, then followed by an update from Astrid Koornneef, Interim Director Prevention on our priority work in the Programme including MMR, the Cold Chain Standards Review, Under 5s COVID-19 vaccine for immuno-compromised Tamariki aged 6 months to 4 years, Childhood Immunisation, and Bivalent. We concluded with a presentation on Aotearoa Immunisation Register from the AIR team.
If you missed the hui a recording is available here: Dropbox: NIP stakeholder hui 16 February 2023.
Important measles update for primary care providers and organisations – 21 February 2023
With the first reported case of measles since 2019 in Aotearoa New Zealand earlier this week, please see attached the links to the various resources that have been developed to enable you to ensure our communities and whanau remain informed. Below are included some patient focused FAQs you may want to share through your practice communications channels.
- Continue to check HealthPathways for up-to-date measles assessment and management information.
- For latest media releases check here: News and updates – Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand
- Please notify the Medical Officer of Health as soon as you suspect measles – do not wait for a laboratory confirmation.
- Primary care is encouraged to find out if their staff are immune to measles. If there is measles exposure on-site, immunisation records may be requested.
Resources
On the Te Whatu Ora website, you will find:
- A general information factsheet about measles
- Poster to be put up in public places asking for people to stay home if they have measles
- Posters for venues where an exposure event has taken place to sign post potential contacts to further information
- Poster for venues where an exposure event has taken place, to provide details of when exposure event took place and what potential contacts should do next.
All posters are available in 18 additional languages
The National Immunisation Programme has a Dropbox of resources to help promote MMR vaccination. These are available for free download.
There is vaccination information available in alternate formats on MOH website here: Measles vaccination | Ministry of Health NZ
Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health information:
- General information on measles
- Manatū Hauora: Symptoms to look out for (public)
- Manatū Hauora resources and leaflets for the public and consultation rooms etc
Exposure events
View the exposure events, along with advice on what to do if a person was at the location at the time listed.
Public focused FAQs
Where can people get vaccinated?
You can get your free Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine at your General Practice, Māori or Pacifica provider and at many pharmacies.
Some pharmacies are unable to provide vaccinations to people under the age of 3 years, if this is the case in your area you will need to go to your primary care health provider for the free vaccine. Call your local pharmacy to check if they provide MMR vaccines. Or, to find your local pharmacy that provides this service, visit www.healthpoint.co.nz and type ‘MMR vaccine’ into the search box. Many pharmacies will allow walk-ins but it’s a good idea to call ahead to check.
You’ll need a total of 2 doses to be fully protected and they need to be at least a month apart.
Where are possible exposure sites?
There are several public exposure events in Auckland, Waikato and Tauranga between Sunday 5 February and Thursday 9 February.
These include a festival in the Waikato; bus transport to and from Tauranga and Waikato, cafes and a hotel in Tauranga; a pharmacy and supermarket in Auckland’s CBD.
Details of these sites available at http://www.health.govt.nz/measlesexposure
What should people do if they’ve been at a location of interest?
We ask anyone present at these exposure events to stay alert to symptoms of measles and to check if they are immune. Please follow the advice on the exposure events website: http://www.health.govt.nz/measlesexposure
If a person is not immune to measles, or not sure, then they should watch out for measles symptoms and call their primary care health provider or Healthline on 0800 611 116 if they occur. It is also recommended that people who are unsure of their immunity get vaccinated against measles.
A dedicated Disability Helpline is also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support disabled people. For measles or general enquiries call free on 0800 11 12 13 or text 8988 for help and information.
MMR is given as two doses. If you were born on or after 1 January 1969 and are not sure that you’ve had two doses, play it safe and get vaccinated. There are no safety concerns with having an extra dose.
How infectious is measles?
Measles is a very serious illness that can spread easily amongst those that are not immune. It is much more contagious than COVID-19, particularly amongst people who aren’t immune.
The best protection against measles is to be vaccinated with two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. It is safe to have an extra MMR vaccination if you can’t prove you have had two doses.
The MMR vaccine is free. If you or anyone in your whānau born on or after 1 January 1969 has not had an MMR vaccine, or aren't sure, ask your General Practice, Māori or Pacifica provider, parent or caregiver. If you can’t confirm two doses were given, play it safe and get vaccinated. There are no safety concerns with having an extra dose.
What are the symptoms of measles?
Symptoms can include a fever, cough, runny nose and sore and watery ‘pink’ eyes. These are followed by a blotchy rash. If you catch measles you are infectious from four days before and until four days after the rash appears.
What should people do if they experience symptoms?
If you have symptoms you should and call your General Practice, Māori or Pacifica provider or Healthline on 0800 611 116. If you need to visit your primary care health provider or an after-hours clinic phone ahead first to limit the risk of the virus being spread to other people. Because measles is so infectious, it’s important that those that have been diagnosed with measles isolate (i.e. staying at home unless seeking healthcare). People who have measles will need to isolate until four days after the rash first appears.
What does this case mean for New Zealand?
There has not been sustained transmission of measles for longer than a year in New Zealand since 2014. However, measles is often imported into New Zealand following international travel.
It was expected that we would have further cases of measles in New Zealand, and we have been preparing for this for some time.
Public health teams are currently tracing contacts of the case to check immunity, manage them appropriately and offer vaccination where appropriate.
We are all aware of how infectious measles is from the last outbreak in Auckland and Northland in 2019. The most important thing that people can do to protect themselves is to ensure they and their Tamariki are immunised. Vaccination is the best protection against measles.
IMAC measles update – 21 February 2023
IMAC has been doing a promotion of measles vaccination since Tuesday on social media, and will continue this as long as needed. Resources include:
- Immunisation Handbook chapter on measles
- News story - Vaccinations are urgent if you haven't had them: https://www.immune.org.nz/news/measles
- Vaccination and vaccine details
- Disease impact
- Personal story of catching measles
- Vaccine preparation sheet
- Fact sheet
- Quick answers for common questions
- Try this search for our measles info if you can’t find what you’re looking for.
Measles case identified in NZ – 14 February 2023
A measles case has been confirmed in New Zealand for the first time since the 2019 outbreak. The individual is an adult living in Auckland but they were infected overseas. They became infectious after their arrival in New Zealand. The confirmed case is now isolating at home and contact tracing is underway.
A media release has been issued to help identify any members of the public who may have been exposed to measles at a number of locations. We will be in touch further as more information comes to hand.
It is important to consider measles for anyone who has been in attendance at the listed exposure events in the media release, identify vaccine status and promote vaccine uptake. Should a patient present and advise they are a contact of a measles case please proactively initiate any required vaccinations and public health actions. Patients who were exposed to the case at high risk sites may be required to remain at home in self-quarantine unless proven to be immune. High-risk exposure events will be posted on the Te Whatu Ora and Ministry of Health websites. Contacts may also contact Whakarongorau/Healthline for further information.
This message alerts you in case you experience additional demand for assessment and management and vaccinations from the community. You may also want to proactively contact any patients due for their immunisation.
Thank you for your support of this.
This acts as another timely reminder to clinicians to be alert for the signs and symptoms of measles, particularly in unvaccinated or immunosuppressed people who have recently returned from overseas. Measles is characterised by the presence of all of the following:
- Generalised maculopapular rash, starting on the head and neck then spreading down and out and fading
- Fever > 38ºC (if measured) present at the same time as the rash
- One or more of cough, coryza, conjunctivitis or Koplik spots present at the same time as the rash
Please refer to your local Health Pathways for more information about measles.
Immunisation
The best protection against measles is the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The MMR vaccination is free for people up to age 32 or anyone born after 1968 that hasn’t had two doses.
The first dose of MMR vaccine is due at 12 months of age. Vaccination is vital due to the risk of severe disease in this age group. Ensure tamariki are recalled before their first birthday so this dose can be delivered on time.
Is your patient population up to date with both doses of MMR? Please be aware that many children have missed out on their scheduled MMR during the last 3 years due to lockdowns.
There are also a number of people aged 17 – 32 years who have missed out on 2 doses of MMR. Please offer opportunistic vaccination to this cohort.
MMR is contraindicated in pregnancy because it is a live vaccine but can be given immediately post-partum.
Your local public health team will advise regarding vaccination of any close contacts. The MMR vaccine, if given within 72 hours of exposure to measles virus, may provide protection to the unimmunised and help limit the spread of measles.
Please call IMAC with any questions regarding vaccination of your patient, particularly if the person is immunocompromised.
Notify all suspected cases of measles to your local Medical Officer of Health
As measles is highly infectious, an urgent public health response is required to control any potential outbreak. Clinicians are reminded to notify all suspected measles cases immediately to the local Medical Officer of Health. Do not wait for laboratory confirmation before notifying.
More information
- Visit Health Pathways nzportal.healthpathwayscommunity.org
- View the CD manual pages on measles: Measles Communicable disease control manual
- The Immunisation handbook can be viewed here: Measles Immunisation handbook
- Public health units: Public health contacts | Ministry of Health NZ
- Up to date information for consumers can be found here: Measles | Ministry of Health NZ
- MMR vaccination resources available to download: Dropbox - MMR - Simplify your life
National Immunisation Programme Hui – 7 February 2023
We warmly invite you to the upcoming National Immunisation Programme hui, which is being held from 1.30pm to 2.30pm, Thursday 16 February 2023.
This hui is designed to keep our vaccination and immunisation teams up to date with plans and activities undertaken by the National Immunisation Programme. The hui will include the following presentations:
- Astrid Koornneef Programme update
- Dr Caroline Hart: Clinical updates
- Sarah Keenan: Aotearoa Immunisation Register
If you have specific issues you’d like addressed, please email them to us before Wednesday 15 February 2023.
Please copy the hui invitation details below into your calendar, and feel free to share this invitation with your colleagues who may wish to attend.
Date: Thursday 16 February 2023
Time: 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Link: Microsoft Teams meeting
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 497 681 435 067
Passcode: iiUXMb
We hope you can join us, but if you can’t we will share a recording of this hui with you.
Weather event preparedness – 1 February 2023
Please ensure you have plans in place to move vaccines off-site in case of power failures, ensuring staff are familiar with how to cool chilly bins and use recording devices, and have frozen ice packs ready. This is particularly important to protect against the loss of vaccines in short supply, for example, the mpox vaccine and infant Pfizer vaccine.
January 2023
AIR training course – 10 January 2023
The IMAC training course “2022 Getting Started with the Aotearoa Immunisation Register“ is now live on its eLearning platform.
You can register for the course here: https://lms.immune.org.nz/course/26292/2022-getting-started-aotearoa-immunisation-register
You can find more information on AIR here.
December 2022
Childhood Immunisation Tier 1 Data– 21 December 2022
Childhood Immunisation Tier 1 Data for the most recent quarter (Q1, 1 July 2022 – 30 September 2022) and the last 12 months (1 October 2021 – 30 September 2022) has been published:
National and DHB immunisation data | Ministry of Health NZ
Key messages
- The latest data for Childhood Immunisations for the quarter to 30 September shows that coverage remains short of the goal of 95%, at 83.4% (down 0.3 from previous quarter).
- The latest results continue to highlight a persistent equity gap for tamariki Māori at all milestone ages compared to the total coverage, with the rate at 8 months falling from 69.32% to 68.5% for the quarter. Rates for 24 months (71.5%) and 5 years (71.6%) are comparable to the previous quarter.
- The goal for HPV immunisation coverage is 75%. The latest data for HPV immunisation coverage to 30 September 2022 for the 2008 birth cohort, shows that uptake of dose 1 of the HPV vaccine is the highest it has ever been (75%). Uptake of dose 2 is lower (58.4%) however It is expected that the percentage of eligible rangatahi who are fully vaccinated will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of June 2023.
- Over the past few years, childhood and young persons’ immunisation rates have been falling across the world – in part due to the impact and pressures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand is part of this global trend.
- The National Immunisation Programme is actively accelerating critical work underway to improve immunisation rates across Aotearoa. In particular, eliminating the vaccination rate equity gap between Māori and non-Māori is a priority for the Programme and it is actively supporting Māori and Pacific providers to build trust with whānau and vaccine confidence.
What is the Programme doing?
- The Programme is committed to lifting childhood immunisation rates and has a range of workstreams underway, which sits in three major areas:
- Strengthening the workforce
- Building system enablers
- Improving and expanding delivery models
- An Immunisation Taskforce has been established and is supporting efforts to improve vaccination coverage, with childhood immunisations its biggest priority. It will recommend actionable changes to lift and sustain vaccination rates.
- The COVID-19 vaccination programme has created new opportunities that can be leveraged to improve our childhood immunisation work. Lessons learned from this programme will play a big part in creating a more culturally responsive and effective immunisation programme that will benefit all of Aotearoa.
- The Programme is working with districts to understand how HPV immunisation is delivered in their area and encouraging districts to consider school-based vaccinations in any immunisation planning or initiatives for 2022/23, particularly for Māori and Pacific rangatahi.
An update on the Aotearoa Immunisation Register – 21 December 2022
You will already know from our earlier updates that the Aotearoa Immunisation Register (AIR) will eventually replace the current National Immunisation Register (NIR) and supersede the COVID-19 Immunisation Register (CIR).
The AIR vaccinator portal is now live and the team have commenced signing up Pharmacy users to the AIR as a replacement for ImmuniseNow from December 2022. The AIR system has a new role called a ‘facility manager’. The facility manager role will give a Pharmacy (or a group of Pharmacies) the flexibility to manage their own AIR users. When a facility manager for a Pharmacy is signed up, we will then work with the facility manager to support their users to complete the sign-up process. Pharmacy facility managers can commence their sign up now by contacting air.engagement@health.govt.nz.
Other providers in the Immunisation sector will be invited to adopt the AIR vaccinator portal in a staged approach in late January to February before the commencement of 2023 flu campaign. For providers that use an integrated PMS systems that connects to NIR, there is no requirement for you to use the AIR vaccinator portal. We are working with your software vendor to connect your system to AIR. (Most GPs will fit into this category)
For those that currently do not use a system (electronic) that can submit information to the NIR, the AIR vaccinator portal will be available for you to adopt in early Q1 2023 commencing with providers who will participate in the 2023 flu campaign. (Occupational Health, Community providers, Public Health Units)
From 9 November, General Practices are scheduled to start receiving notifications when any of their enrolled patients have received vaccinations elsewhere that have been recorded in AIR. Vaccinations recorded in AIR will not be viewable on the NIR. We continue to work with medical software vendors to support the shift required to connect PMS with the AIR as this work progresses over 2023.
You can find more information on AIR here.
Top three FAQ’s asked during sign up are:
Q: How do I request to be a facility manager or a user at multiple sites?
A: Once you complete your sign up for one site and can access the AIR, you will be able to request access to additional sites using the vaccinator portal. The AIR admin team will authorise requests for additional facility manager access. Approvals for access for all other roles are authorised by the facility manager for the site being requested.
Q: I am signing up to the AIR as a facility manager but I also need the role of vaccinator – how do I get both?
A: You will only ever need one login to the AIR. Once you complete your sign up as a facility manager role and can access the AIR then you can request access to other roles at a site using the vaccinator portal. As the facility manager you will approve this access. For example, when you sign up as a facility manager, then once you get your access to the AIR, you can assign yourself a vaccinator role as well.
Q: I have signed up as a vaccinator, but I also need to be a facility manager – what do I do?
A: You will need to contact the help desk to ask to have the facility manager role added to your profile. help@imms.min.health.nz
Recording and presentation slides from the recent vaccine hesitancy and misinformation Webinar – 12 December 2022
On Friday 2 December, the National Immunisation Programme hosted a webinar where Dr Alison Buttenheim from the University of Pennsylvania spoke about behavioural science approaches to addressing vaccine hesitancy and disinformation.
If you missed the webinar, a recording, and the presentation slides are available. As we ran out of time during the webinar to answer all the questions, Dr Buttenheim responded to those questions separately.
The recording, presentation slides, and Q&As can be found in the NIP Dropbox here.
Regional portals and Healthlink re IMAC – 12 December 2022
You can now send a query to IMAC through HealthLink via the HealthLink tab on Practice Management systems for referrals. We welcome queries from health care providers regarding vaccinations, indications, schedule, assessment of possible adverse events and related matters.
For anything requiring an immediate response please continue to call 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466 863). However, if you wish to refer children to Immunisation Outreach please use the Care Connect e-referral form or your local equivalent.
Aotearoa Immunisation Register (AIR) updates – 12 December 2022
The Aotearoa Immunisation Register vaccinator portal is now live.
More information on what Te Whatu Ora is doing to manage the change over is on their website here.
Any issues and queries need be sent to: air.engagement@health.govt.nz.
November 2022
New MMR video – 23 November 2022
The Te Whatu-Ora - Southern Public Health team have made a video promoting the MMR vaccine, including important information about measles and where people can get their vaccineation.
Please feel free to share the video on any digital screens you may have, or in newsletters and social media.
Te Whatu Ora, National Immunisation Programme webinar 10 November – 9 November 2022
Te Whatu Ora is holding a National Immunisation Programme Stakeholder hui tomorrow, Thursday 10 November 12pm - 1pm, via Teams.
This lunchtime hui is designed to keep our vaccination and immunisation teams up to date with plans and activities undertaken by the National Immunisation Programme. The hui will include the following updates:
- Overall programme updates
- Vaccine updates
- Equity programme updates
We are very pleased to confirm the hui will include a presentation from the team at Kōkiri Hauora and Social services on the great mahi they have been doing in the vaccination service within the community.
Click here to join the meeting Meeting ID: 492 624 400 300, Passcode: hw3bNE
October 2022
MMR flyer now available in multiple languages – 10 October 2022
The ‘Measles under 5 years’ flyer is now available in 20 different languages (including Te reo Māori, several Pasifika languages, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Punjabi and more).
You can see and download them from our Dropbox here: Dropbox: Measles under 5
Remember, you can find a link to the main National Immunisation Programme dropbox under the Key Links section at the top of this page.
September 2022
Guidance for Priorix (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine preparation– 27 September 2022
On 10 August, IMAC published a resource called Guidance for Priorix (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine preparation.
'Measles and the potential crisis of childhood immunisations' webinar – 27 September 2022
On Tuesday 6 September, the Goodfellow Unit hosted a webinar on measles and the potential crisis of childhood immunisations. The webinar includes:
- Measles and its epidemiology, vaccine coverage, signs and symptoms and actions to take - Bryn Thompson, Specialist GP, ARPHS.
- Childhood immunisations - are we looking at a crisis? – Dr Owen Sinclair, Paediatrician, Te Whatu Ora - Waitematā.
- The current international perspective – recent developments, the next 12-24 months, Australian indigenous rates of immunisation and lessons learned – Chris Maher, Senior Specialist Adviser, Health Emergencies, Respond Global.
You can watch a recording of the webinar here.
Vaccinator bridging course – 27 September 2022
The Vaccinator Bridging Course is now available through IMAC Learning.
This course is designed to upskill Provisional Authorised Vaccinators (PAVs) to achieve full scope of practice as an Authorised Vaccinator (AV) to administer vaccines on the National Immunisation Schedule (NIS), across the life span or to become a Pharmacist Vaccinator and deliver the scope of vaccines available. Registered/enrolled nurses, pharmacists & midwives are eligible professions for the Vaccinator Bridging Course (VBC).
To complete this course you must be a Provisional Authorised Vaccinator* (provisional authorisation is issued by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand (formally Ministry of Health) and is valid for two years since issue date). Upon completing the education course, you will need to meet all the requirements outlined in Appendix 4 of the Immunisation Handbook to either apply for authorisation or become a pharmacist vaccinator (more details in Authorisation section below). *Please do not register for this course if you have not yet received your provisional authorisation status from Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand.
Course delivery and duration
This course involves online learning (10-12 hours), followed by a 3.5 hour in-person tutorial.
July 2022
New MMR resources - 29 July 2022
A new measles flyer and poster have been loaded to the MoH Dropbox. You can find them here.
MMR promotion update - 8 July 2022
The national focus through to September 2022 will be lifting MMR vaccination rates for Māori and Pacific under 5s. The Ministry of Health will refresh existing collateral, but will look to combine vaccine messages to parents of these young children. It will also work with the education sector and its Māori and Pacific teams to help distribute key messages. These are included below for your use too:
Top line key messages:
- Measles, mumps and rubella can all be very serious illnesses, but measles is particularly dangerous. It can lead to pneumonia, brain infection and sometimes death, and it spreads very quickly.
- The MMR vaccination helps protect your tamariki and it’s free.
- If your child is under 5 and you are not sure whether they have had both of their free measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccinations, talk to your doctor, nurse practitioner or local health clinic today.
- High vaccination rates have helped to prevent an outbreak here, and every person vaccinated increases our chance of keeping it out, or of quickly stamping out an outbreak if a case gets into Aotearoa.
- Two doses of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) will protect 99% (99 out of 100) of people from measles and will protect about 88% (88 out of 100) of people from mumps.
June 2022
Provisional Vaccinator Bridging Courses - 2 June 2022
IMAC has released dates for the Provisional Vaccinator Bridging Courses, including Dunedin on 21 July and 13 September, and Invercargill on 4 August. Course dates can be found at https://www.immune.org.nz/vaccinator-bridging-course and registration can be made via the learning platform.
This course is designed to upskill Provisional Authorised Vaccinators (PAVs) to achieve full scope of practice as an Authorised Vaccinator (AV) to administer vaccines on the National Immunisation Schedule (NIS), across the life span or to become a Pharmacist Vaccinator and deliver the scope of vaccines available. Registered/enrolled nurses, pharmacists & midwives are eligible professions for the Vaccinator Bridging Course (VBC).
To complete this course you must be a Provisional Authorised Vaccinator* (provisional authorisation is issued by the Ministry of Health and is valid for two years since issue date). Upon completing the education course, you will need to meet all the requirements outlined in Appendix 4 of the Immunisation Handbook to either apply for authorisation or become a pharmacist vaccinator (more details in Authorisation section below).
The course involves 10-12 hours online learning followed by a 3.5-hour face-to-face tutorial (this is the date provided on the calendar).
*Please do not register for this course if you have not yet received your provisional authorisation status from the Ministry of Health.
May 2022
Updated MMR vaccine consent form- 26 May 2022
MOH boost funding to lift tamariki MMR vaccination - 24 May 2022
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health boosted funding by $1.5M to increase tamariki MMR vaccination.
The funding supports general practice and pharmacy, with a focus on Maori and Pacific communities.
This funding will be managed by the Ministry of Health and will be a supplementary top up payment over and above the current Immunisation Administration Fee based on claims data. No additional claiming processes are required.
The funding ends 31 July.