Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Northland meningitis petition attracts 502 signatures, now before Parliament

Imran Ali
By Imran Ali
Multimedia Journalist·Northern Advocate·
15 Feb, 2019 07:30 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
A petition sponsored by two Northland-based MPs is calling for publicly funded meningococcal W vaccines for 5 to 12-year-olds. Photo/John Stone

A petition sponsored by two Northland-based MPs is calling for publicly funded meningococcal W vaccines for 5 to 12-year-olds. Photo/John Stone

An online petition in Northland calling for a pre-teen age group to receive free vaccination has attracted 502 signatures and is before a Parliamentary select committee.

Three weeks ago, Whangārei MP Dr Shane Reti and Northland MP Matt King launched the petition in a bid to urge the Ministry of Health to extend the meningococcal W vaccines to 5 to 12-year-olds.

Currently, only children aged up to 4 and between 13 and 20 years old are eligible for free vaccines but the two MPs believe everyone up to 20 should be covered.

The petition also calls on Parliament to investigate all aspects of the meningitis outbreak in Northland that has claimed two lives.

Dr Reti said the petition was presented to Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard on Wednesdaybefore it was allocated to the health committee.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Whangārei MP is the committee's deputy chair.

He said the committee may decide to seek the views of health experts and public submissions before its recommendation was reported back to Parliament.

Dr Reti said the number of signatories to their petition was above expectation.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We in the Health Committee have accepted petitions with way less signatures. Anything over 100 or 200 is good so I am happy that many people took part.

"Online access in parts of Northland could be challenging and combined with the fact that the petition ran for two weeks only, I think it's a good result and it shows people are concerned about this issue."

He hoped the health committee can make quick progress so ineligible pre teenagers were also protected from the deadly disease, especially during winter when meningitis peaked.

King said a lot of people were coming forward saying they could not afford the cost of vaccinating their children and the Government should act.

Discover more

Dean completes trek down the North Island

15 Feb 06:00 PM

OneRoof.co.nz's guide to what's on the market in Northland

15 Feb 06:00 PM

More to identity than a DNA test

18 Feb 12:00 AM

Overuse of popular Northland swimming hole major concern

15 Feb 05:00 PM

"Make it available for every teenager. Put people's mind at rest because we're not talking a massive amount of money here," he said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out the possibility of the Government extending free meningitis vaccines to children between 5 and 12 years in Northland for now.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Bush search leads to drug and ammo charges in Kaitāia

Northern Advocate

Jacob Rajan’s acclaimed ‘Guru of Chai’ back in Whangārei

Northern Advocate

2300 education workers strike over pay deadlock with ministry


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Bush search leads to drug and ammo charges in Kaitāia
Northern Advocate

Bush search leads to drug and ammo charges in Kaitāia

The man was allegedly seen with a firearm which led to a callout to his address.

22 Jul 07:00 AM
Jacob Rajan’s acclaimed ‘Guru of Chai’ back in Whangārei
Northern Advocate

Jacob Rajan’s acclaimed ‘Guru of Chai’ back in Whangārei

22 Jul 03:30 AM
2300 education workers strike over pay deadlock with ministry
Northern Advocate

2300 education workers strike over pay deadlock with ministry

22 Jul 02:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP