Concern about lower vaccination rate

WELLINGTON: A significant drop in the number of Maori infants getting vaccinated on time has the head of the immunisation advisory concerned there will be an increase in hospitalisations for serious illnesses.

Ministry of Health figures show a 5% drop from April to June in Maori infants being vaccinated at 6 months old.

Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner said it was putting them at higher risk of developing serious illnesses.

‘‘The most important [illness] currently in the New Zealand environment is whooping cough, so if you delay some of the other vaccines, it’s not such a problem but if you delay whooping cough we know from New Zealand data that these infants end up being two to four times at higher risk of ending up in hospital with whooping cough.

‘‘There’s a lot of whooping cough around so we don’t want anyone to delay. It’s been a disrupted year so people can get a bit confused about when to go in.

‘‘It’s also important for pregnant women to remember to be immunised for it as well,’’ Dr Turner said.

She said the drop in the rate of vaccinations for all infants at the Northland, Tairawhiti and Lakes district health boards, which were up to 16% lower than the national average (76.2%) was also hugely concerning.

Dr Turner said there was an increasing lack of confidence and trust in health services, caused by the rise in misinformation online that was driving the decrease in immunisation rates in New Zealand. — RNZ