Preventing infectious diseases through immunisation

Sufficient COVID-19 vaccine supply to vaccinate half a million New Zealanders in next 5 weeks

Ministry of Health media release: 11th June 2021

The Ministry of Health has confirmed there is sufficient supply of the Pfizer vaccine for district health boards to deliver more than half a million vaccinations as planned over the next five weeks.

“As announced on Tuesday (9th June), Pfizer has confirmed we will receive 1 million doses of the vaccine in July,” Director-General Ashley Bloomfield says.

“We also continue to receive weekly vaccine supplies through June as well. Stocks will be tight for the next five weeks and we have planned carefully to manage our way through.

“Current bookings will not be affected. But DHBs are likely to have to manage the rate of new bookings to ensure they are delivering in line with their current plans, where to date many have been running ahead of plan for some time.

“Walk-ins have been incorporated in the vaccine roll-out plan up until now, in many cases to avoid vaccine wastage. However that is no longer a problem so appointments will be required for vaccinations at all DHBs so we can carefully manage our supply during this period. Even through this more tightly controlled phase, DHBs will continue to administer more than 100,000 doses per week.

“We know some people in group 3 – those over the age of 65, people with disabilities, pregnant people and certain health conditions – are anxious to know when they will receive their vaccination. We have asked DHBs to ensure people in this group receive an invitation to be vaccinated by the end of July at the latest.”

“This does not change the end goal. There will be enough vaccine for everyone over the age of 16 to receive two doses by the end of this year.”

Big jump in New Zealanders who say they’ll get vaccinated against COVID-19

Beehive media release: 21st May 2021

Latest research shows more New Zealanders in major demographic groups will get a COVID-19 vaccine, as the number of doses administered reaches half a million, said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.

“Ministry of Health research from April 2021 shows 77 per cent of New Zealanders aged 16 years and over say they are likely to get a vaccine or have already received a vaccine. This compares to 69 per cent in March,” Chris Hipkins said.

“The results show the number of people who say they are unlikely to get vaccinated dropped to 12 percent, down from 20 per cent in March and 24 percent in December 2020.”

Latest acceptance rates:

• Overall – 77 per cent (up from 69 percent) or 3,147,200 out of 4,082,500 New Zealanders 16 and over;
• 7 percent of these people have had one or two doses;
• Maori – 71 percent (up from 64 percent in March);
• Pasifika – 79 percent (up from 59 percent in March); and
• Over 65s are the most likely to get vaccinated.

“This is really encouraging. Major information campaigns, solid progress in the vaccine rollout and strong role models in each community are making a real difference. Given the rollout has been underway for three months, it is fantastic to already see a steady decline in those who say they won’t get a vaccine, including in those communities considered high-risk.

“We do know it’s important to understand why people might not be ready to commit to getting the vaccine just yet. This research indicates that 15 per cent are still unsure whether they have to pay for the vaccine, which is why we keep repeating that it’s free.

“Those who identify as disabled are more likely on average to be unsure whether they’ll get vaccinated and there remains a number of people who want to know more about the safety of the vaccine, so we’ve still got work to do.”

PHARMAC widening access to the meningococcal ACWY vaccine

The meningococcal ACWY vaccine will be available free until 30th November 2021 for young people aged 13 to 25 who live in close living situations – boarding school hostels, tertiary education halls of residence, military barracks and prisons. Contact your general practice to have this free vaccination.

“It’s great when we can make a vaccine available to more people. Teenagers and young adults living in close living situations are one of the highest risk populations, which is why we’ve targeted this group” says PHARMAC’s deputy medical director Dr Pete Murray.

The bacterium that causes meningitis is generally carried by people aged 13 to 25 years. Carriers can infect those around them even if they have no symptoms. Vaccinating this age group would protect young people, decrease the number of carriers, and help reduce the spread of meningococcal disease in this at-risk population.

Applications for the meningococcal vaccine to be funded for other groups of people are still being considered, as is the funding of meningococcal B vaccine.