HNZ: National Immunisation Programme Update: 19 August 2022

Kia ora koutou health sector friends and colleagues,

Please find below our update for this week. As always we are grateful for your help in sharing this with your networks as relevant. 

COVID-19

Updated clinical advice re boosters and pregnant people

It is recommended that pregnant people receive a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine to help protect them and their baby against the effects of COVID-19. The booster vaccine can be given at any stage of pregnancy. If you are 18 or over, you can get your Pfizer booster at least 3 months after your primary course (for most people, this is 2 doses). If you are 16 or 17, you can get a Pfizer booster at least 6 months after completing your primary course.

You can also discuss the timing of your booster with your midwife, obstetrician, doctor, or health professional. 

A second booster is not yet needed by younger people who are generally healthy and do not have underlying health conditions. This includes people who are currently healthy and pregnant. If a second booster is recommendedfor you and you are pregnant, this is due at least 6 months after your previous dose.

Booster campaign update

You will have seen that we have sent the media schedule for the next few weeks of the new campaign which is in the market now. Collateral development is coming along and we should be able to give you shareable assets next week. 

The first phase of this campaign is currently in market with mainstream and CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) radio stations, print and digital assets.

Phase two sees the introduction of new animated AV content (All of NZ version) on TV and Out of Home (screens in GPs and health providers) live from w/c 22 August. A Pacific Island and Māori animation created by a Māori and Pasifika agency will be available in the following week. 

New collateral including flyers, posters and online assets will also be available.  

Back to the Islands campaign 

A Back to the Islands campaign has been running since Saturday 6 August. The campaign supports Pacific vaccination events by helping to encourage Māori and Pacific people to get vaccinated. Any Māori or Pacific person that is vaccinated at a participating Pacific pop up event during the period of the draw can enter. This can be for COVID-19, flu or measles vaccinations. Participants fill out an entry form at the event giving them a chance to enter the draw to win a return trip package to Samoa or Tonga as well as another chance to win travel vouchers.  

The campaign will run until the end of the school holidays, Sunday 16 October and winners will be announced in November. You can find out more about the campaign by contacting Yvonne Timaloa  or Exeter Alofi  or have a look at the Back to the Islands collateral in our Dropbox: Back to the Islands.   

Translation services available in over 40 languages

An update to the Book My Vaccine (BMV) site on 25 August will remind consumers that translation services are available in over 40 languages.

Consumers can call the COVID-19 Vaccination Healthline on 0800 28 29 26for support in over 40 languages. Vaccination support information is also translated into 28 languages on the COVID-19 website. Canterbury, and many other Districts, have telephonic language translation support for consumers at COVID-19 vaccination sites.  

MENINGOCOCCAL

New meningococcal resources

We’ve just created a new poster and flyer promoting meningococcal vaccination to young people living in shared accommodation settings. We’re sending them to universities and boarding schools. You may like to share them with local contacts, particularly student health or youth health providers. 

The new resources can be found on our Dropbox: Meningococcal.

REGULAR REMINDERS

Weekly vaccination data

Our latest Māori and Pacific COVID-19 vaccination data is now available here.

This week’s flu vaccination data is available here.

Update on collateral on Dropbox

Don’t forget we have a range of collateral you and your providers can use to promote vaccinations. Please feel free to share this link and the collateral widely: Dropbox: NIP – vaccine resources – Simplify your life. 

You can also find a range of vaccination stories to share on our YouTube channel.

You may have noticed some changes to our dropbox link above. We have had a reshuffle and are now sharing the consent forms and policy statements for health professionals in a separate folder in the above link. Please note we have recently added te reo Maori translations for Flu, Covid-19 and MMR consent forms. 

Thank you once again for all your mahi and I hope you have a good weekend.  

Ngā mihi nui,

Sandy