Immunisations on the national schedule are free for under-18s. Photo / John Stone
Immunisations on the national schedule are free for under-18s. Photo / John Stone
Just over half of infants in the Bay of Plenty aged 6 months old or younger are fully immunised against potentially deadly diseases including polio and whooping cough - below the national rate.
It comes after three children under the age of one have died from whooping cough inNew Zealand this year, prompting fears of winter outbreak.
The most recent available data from the Ministry of Health, covering the last quarter of 2022, showed 58.3 per cent of eligible babies in the Bay of Plenty aged 6 months or younger were fully vaccinated (463 out of 794 eligible), compared to 68.7 nationally.
Of eligible Māori infants in the same Bay age group, 38.6 per cent had received their childhood immunisations.
The rates were down on the same period in 2021 when immunisation coverage was 62.2 per cent overall in the Bay, 44 per cent for Māori and 73.3 per cent nationally.
New Zealand’s immunisation schedule states that by the age of 12 months, children should have had shots against polio, whooping cough, Hepatitis B and diphtheria. Vaccines on the national immunisation schedule are free for under-18s.
Kaupapa Māori health provider Te Manu Toroa held an immunisation day on Saturday in Gate Pā. Childhood immunisations, flu shots, MMR [measles, mumps, and rubella] vaccinations and Covid-19 boosters were available.
Te Manu Toroa chief executive Pat Cook said its focus was on supporting parents and whānau to better protect their tamariki [children] and pēpi [babies] from a host of vaccine-preventable diseases.
She wanted whānau to know it was “not too late to catch up on any missed vaccinations”.
Cook said giving Māori whānau confidence to immunise their children would take a “concerted effort” to inform them about immunisation.
“We need to enable whānau to make informed decisions about the benefits of immunisation.”
Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty, formerly the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, said it was collaborating with hauora Māori (Māori health) vaccine providers on initiatives to increase trust and uptake of immunisations.
These included offering vaccinations at community movie nights, drive-throughs and opening GP clinics on weekends. It was also operating an outreach service visiting homes, marae and rural health clinics daily throughout the district.
Parents could also visit their GP or healthcare provider to get their child’s free immunisations.
“We’re working hard to make immunisations easy and accessible. We need to increase trust in vaccines and prioritise immunisation to keep our whānau well.”
Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand national director of prevention Astrid Koornneef said it had a national target of 95 per cent of children being up to date with their immunisations at 24 months of age by June 30, 2024.
Data showed there was “an especially concerning equity gap” in childhood immunisation rates for Māori and Pacific tamariki.
Initiatives to improve childhood immunisation rates included a new website with information about immunisations and a new programme to help reach “priority populations”.
In a media release last week, Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority chief executive Riana Manuel said the relationships built during the pandemic with Māori, Pacific people and disabled people had put it in a “stronger position” to address the fall in immunisation rates for other diseases.
“Through Covid-19, we learned that it wasn’t enough to set up vaccine centres - we needed to build trust with whānau first, often kanohi ki te kanohi [face-to-face].”
Whooping cough outbreak fears
Three infants, all aged under 1, have died from whooping cough this year.
Te Whatu Ora National Public Health Service clinical lead health protection Dr William Rainger said there had been 11 cases of whooping cough in the country as of April 4.
“While reported cases remain low, these deaths are an urgent reminder that whooping cough is a serious illness, especially for younger babies.”
Rainger said the ratio of fatalities to identified cases is much higher than in previous years, suggesting there may be undetected spread in the community.
Whānau Āwhina Plunket said in a media release last week the recent deaths, coupled with low childhood immunisation coverage, meant there was a “real risk” of a whooping cough outbreak this winter.
Chief nurse Zoe Tipa said there was always misinformation circulating on social media about immunisation, and it was important to speak to a trusted health professional who could help guide informed decisions.
Immunisation Advisory Centre senior advisor Dr Mary Nowlan said each vaccine type was specifically timed in the national schedule based on international evidence, local disease patterns and clinical trial data.
Immunisation Advisory Centre senior advisor Dr Mary Nowlan.
“The timing of the schedule and the number of doses relate to how infants respond to vaccines and the ages at which they are at greatest risk of those diseases,” Nowlan said.
Nowlan said infants younger than 12 months old were “very susceptible” to whooping cough. So it was “vital” for children to start their vaccination programme at six weeks old.
“The bacterium that causes whooping cough (pertussis) releases toxins, including pertussis toxin that is particularly nasty,” Nowlan said.
“In infants with small bodies, a small quantity of pertussis toxin can make the baby so seriously ill there is nothing that can be done to treat the infection except to try to support the baby’s organs until the infection has passed.”
Whooping cough sometimes took lives or left babies with long-term brain and lung damage despite “high-tech” intensive care.
Nowlan said New Zealanders were very lucky to have had access to immunisation against whooping cough for decades.
“We do not remember how severe many of the vaccine-preventable diseases are.”
Whooping cough starts like a cold with a runny nose, cough and fever.
After seven to ten days the cough becomes more severe and causes coughing fits that may end with a ‘whoop’, dry retching or vomiting.
This illness is unpleasant for anyone, but it is life-threatening for babies.
Parents should also seek urgent medical advice if their baby stops breathing, goes blue with coughing, gets exhausted from coughing or is not able to feed properly because of coughing.
Immunisation against whooping cough is available free at your GP or some pharmacies for all babies and young children should get their vaccine doses on time at six weeks, three months and five months old.
