Free MMR vaccines at schools and marae

The Government says hundreds of thousands of young people who are not fully protected against measles will be offered free vaccinations against the deadly disease.

Schools and marae will help deliver the vaccines, with an emphasis on those aged 15-29.

Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter made the announcement yesterday in a bid to close the “overdue” immunisation gap to protect the health of communities.

“About 300,000 young people aged between 15 and 29 are not fully protected against measles, and this Government is determined to strengthen public health and address under-immunisation,” Genter said.

It comes after the Herald revealed a Ministry of Health report about how government inaction left the door open to last year’s outbreak of the preventable disease.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Mike Hosking Breakfast that to get ahead of the virus better resources were needed, including more nurses to give vaccinations in hard-to-reach communities.

The Government yesterday promised $23 million to strengthen New Zealand’s immunisation system, with more money to come.

Included in that funding was $1.4m for a business case to rebuild the National Immunisation Register to ensure better access to immunisation information.

Genter said young adults had much lower immunity rates to measles because many were not immunised as children.

“We are overdue to address that immunisation gap to protect the health of communities.”

Genter said more than 350,000 additional measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines are earmarked for the campaign, and are expected to arrive in April after a six-month manufacturing process.

Dr Nikki Turner, director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre, welcomed the announcement but asked how effective the catch-up campaign would be as 15- to 29-yearolds were “notoriously difficult” to access with preventive campaigns.

While there was currently high awareness of measles, it would be challenging to create the demand, get in touch with those whose immunisation status wasn’t known, and offer multiple ways for them to access the vaccine.

Despite the current measles outbreak being all but over, Turner said it was never too late to improve New Zealand’s vaccination levels.