Thousands of measles vaccines shipped to Auckland
Thousands of extra measles vaccine doses have been put aside for Auckland, with some shipped from Wellington overnight to help bolster supplies in the region.
New Zealand is in the grips of the worst measles outbreak it has seen in more than 20 years. There have been 970 cases in Auckland so far this year, and 1150 across the country in total.
This week, the Ministry of Health undertook a ‘‘stocktake’’ of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine to get greater clarity around which areas had sufficient stocks of the vaccine.
The ministry told on Wednesday 8000 vaccine doses had since been ‘‘ring fenced’’ for use in Auckland. The distributor sent 3000 doses from Wellington to Auckland overnight, it said.
The three Auckland DHBs were managing this stock, working with primary health organisations and practices directly, the ministry said.
For the rest of the country, the ministry and Pharmac were working with distributors to prioritise stock to practices which were low or had run out. More than 54,000 doses of vaccine were distributed last week, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Additional vaccines were set to arrive in New Zealand this weekend, it said.
Earlier, Pharmac told Stuff there were no issues with vaccine stocks, with more than 80,000 doses available in the national vaccine store. But getting the vaccine supplies to the right place at the right time, and having adequate staff and opportunity to vaccinate were other ‘‘logistical puzzles to solve’’, Immunisation Advisory Centre director Nikki Turner said.
Measles is a highly infectious and potentially life-threatening viral illness, which has more than a 50 per cent death rate in children with low immunity.
Measles is almost entirely preventable through two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.
After one dose, 95 per cent of people are protected from measles. After two doses, more than 99 per cent are protected.