Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

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

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

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

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

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 / Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui family to take petition for free meningitis vaccines

By Vera Alves & Jacob McSweeny
Whanganui Chronicle·
11 Dec, 2018 08:00 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
Tarsha and Chloe Boniface. A petition by Chloe's aunt is urging the Government to make meningitis vaccinations free.

Tarsha and Chloe Boniface. A petition by Chloe's aunt is urging the Government to make meningitis vaccinations free.

The family of Chloe Boniface are gathering signatures for a petition urging the Government to fully fund all meningitis vaccines and provide more education about the disease.

Chloe died in November of meningitis after suffering what her mother, Tarsha Boniface, thought were normal flu symptoms - headache, a sore body and fatigue.

Meningitis was not something Tarsha was concerned about and now she and other family members are trying to raise awareness around the dangers of meningitis. Tarsha doesn't want anyone else to lose a family member because they weren't aware of the danger signs of meningitis.

A petition urging the Government to make a fully-funded Meningitis vaccine available to all New Zealanders was launched by Chloe's aunt, Nicole Moana, on Monday (December 10).

She wants all meningitis strains to be covered and for education around the disease to be prioritised - particularly for children and young people at kindergartens, schools and university because they are groups of people most at risk to catch the disease.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

At the moment there is a free vaccination programme in Northland to halt the spread of a community outbreak of meningococcal W.

Children from nine months to five years of age and teens aged from 13 to 19 will be given the first available vaccines.

But Nicole Moana said outside of the Northland situation, the vaccine was too expensive.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Every strain of Meningitis (ABCWY) should be made fully funded for all at-risk Kiwis," she said.

"Many cannot afford the current high price of these vaccines and that is simply not fair. This issue should be of high priority to prevent more loss of precious lives."

Moana said she knew of a friend who got their child vaccinated against all strains of meningitis and paid more than $400. The cost differs depending on the person being vaccinated.

Moana herself has a 2-year-old son who she is saving money up to get him vaccinated against the various meningitis strains.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Kiwi family feared teenage daughter was dead three times

26 Sep 02:21 AM
New Zealand

Mum's plea after girl is taken by meningitis

10 Mar 09:00 PM

What's on in Whanganui this week?

12 Dec 06:00 PM

Kate Stewart: A politically correct dictionary of in-vogue vocabulary

15 Dec 03:00 AM

On Tuesday the petition had 403 signatures. The petition will be open for a year before it is closed and presented to Parliament.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

OpinionShelley Loader

Shelley Loader: Apathy is eroding our voice in local democracy

Whanganui Chronicle

Voting countdown: Key dates, rules and what’s at stake in council elections

Whanganui Chronicle

Ruapehu council's $700,000 overspend rectified


Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Shelley Loader: Apathy is eroding our voice in local democracy
Shelley  Loader
OpinionShelley Loader

Shelley Loader: Apathy is eroding our voice in local democracy

In the 2022 local elections, only 46% of Whanganui's eligible population voted.

09 Sep 04:50 PM
Voting countdown: Key dates, rules and what’s at stake in council elections
Whanganui Chronicle

Voting countdown: Key dates, rules and what’s at stake in council elections

08 Sep 09:23 PM
Ruapehu council's $700,000 overspend rectified
Whanganui Chronicle

Ruapehu council's $700,000 overspend rectified

08 Sep 06:56 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 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
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP