Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

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

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

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

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

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 / Rotorua Daily Post

Bay of Plenty nurses encouraging people to go out and get their flu jab

Caroline Fleming
By Caroline Fleming
Multimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
13 May, 2019 11:07 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
Flu viruses are quick-change artists. They constantly mutate, and those frequent changes make it hard for our bodies to recognise and fend off the virus. Source: AP

Bay of Plenty doctors and nurses are encouraging residents to get their flu jab as the winter peak in demand draws closer.

The Ministry of Health has distributed more than one million doses of the seasonal influenza vaccine and was encouraging New Zealanders to get vaccinated.

Director of public health from the Ministry of Health Dr Caroline McElnay said every year people died from influenza.

She said the ministry was particularly encouraging people who were over 65 years old, pregnant or who had a long term health condition, to get vaccinated.

Practice manager at The Doctors Bureta in Welcome Bay Simone Hunter said there was definitely a peak in demand around this time of year, especially heading into winter.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said their practice ran "flu clinics" around this time of year, where one nurse gave the immunisation every 10 minutes for a number of hours.

The nurse usually gave about 30 jabs a day in the clinic, but could even get up to 50, she said.

She said it was so important as flu was something that could turn fatal for those who had ongoing health issues.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Practice nurse Sonya Van Boven at Central Health in Rotorua said there was always a massive peak in demand for the jab this time of year and they were usually "fully booked out" from April.

She said it was also vital for those who didn't have ongoing health issues to go out and get the vaccine as the flu was a "contagious and debilitating" illness.

"Getting vaccinated before the winter peak of influenza arrives is important for making sure as many of us as possible are protected, as it can take up to two weeks for the vaccine to provide the best protection," said Van Boven.

People aged 65 and older and children aged 4 and under with a history of serious respiratory illness are eligible for free influenza immunisation.

Discover more

New Zealand

Measles outbreak spreads to Taupō

01 May 04:09 AM

Measles cases in Bay increase to 22

13 May 03:04 AM

Government gives $271k to Rangitāiki River project

15 May 03:20 AM

The vaccine was also free for those at high risk of complications, which includes those with long term health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, respiratory disease, kidney disease and cancer, as well as pregnant women.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Once-in-a-lifetime': Rotorua's special fan day for Manu Samoa

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

'Party hard': The legend and legacy of NZ's Jolliest netball tournaments

Rotorua Daily Post

'We got your Queen back guys': Lakeland Queen paddles again


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Once-in-a-lifetime': Rotorua's special fan day for Manu Samoa
Rotorua Daily Post

'Once-in-a-lifetime': Rotorua's special fan day for Manu Samoa

Connecting with sporting heroes and promoting Pacific wellbeing.

28 Aug 06:00 AM
Premium
Premium
'Party hard': The legend and legacy of NZ's Jolliest netball tournaments
Rotorua Daily Post

'Party hard': The legend and legacy of NZ's Jolliest netball tournaments

28 Aug 02:00 AM
'We got your Queen back guys': Lakeland Queen paddles again
Rotorua Daily Post

'We got your Queen back guys': Lakeland Queen paddles again

28 Aug 12:29 AM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 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
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • 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
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP