National Immunisation Programme update - 1 December 2022

Kia ora koutou health sector colleagues,

We’re sending this week’s update a little early as it includes a reminder about the Webinar we are holding tomorrow (details below). Please share this week’s update with your own networks. Thank you.

REMINDER about tomorrow’s webinar

We wanted to remind you of the webinar organised by National Immunisation Programme that is being held tomorrow Friday 2 December 2022 from 12.30pm to 1.30pm. Our speaker Dr Alison Buttenheim will speak about behavioural science approaches to addressing vaccine hesitancy and disinformation.

Dr Buttenheim has served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Ad-Hoc Committee on a Framework for the Equitable Allocation of the COVID-19 Vaccine and provided testimony on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy to the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. 

We hope you can join us. Feel free to forward this invitation to anyone else who might be interested

Don’t forget to copy and paste this webinar information into your calendar: 

Aotearoa Immunisation Register

The Aotearoa Immunisation Register (AIR) will eventually replace the current National Immunisation Register (NIR) and supersede the COVID-19 Immunisation Register (CIR).

We have commenced signing up Pharmacy users to the AIR as a replacement for ImmuniseNow from January 2023. Other parts of the immunisation sector will be invited to adopt the AIR vaccinator portal in a staged approach.

As of 9 November, General Practices have started to receive notifications whenever any of their enrolled patients have received vaccinations elsewhere that have been recorded in AIR. Notifications for Tdap have been in place from the 30^th of November. Vaccinations recorded in AIR will not be viewable on the NIR.

COVID-19 antiviral medicines – resources for healthcare providers

Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand is working with Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health, Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority, Te Puni Kōkiri - Ministry of Māori Development, and Ministry for Pacific Peoples to raise awareness that free antiviral medicines are available to people who are at risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19. We want eligible people to know about antivirals before they get sick, so they can get the medicines quickly if needed, and that the medicines are available directly through many pharmacies. We’re emphasising that people should stay home and isolate if they feel sick and call their pharmacist or usual healthcare provider for a phone appointment to talk about antivirals.

As the information campaign continues, you may get more questions about antivirals, so we wanted to remind you of key information and provide some useful new resources.

As you’ll be aware, antivirals are free for people eligible under Pharmac’s access criteria. You will find more information in the attached PDF. 

People are encouraged to have a safe-as summer

COVID-19 is still in our community so we all need to do our part to protect ourselves and each other this summer. Having a safe-as summer is also about encouraging people to be well prepared for their everyday health needs. The messages are being shared and supported around the motu by Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand, Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority, Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health, Te Puni Kōkiri - Ministry of Māori Development (via Karawhiua), Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People, Ministry for Pacific Peoples and other partners, encouraging people to plan and prepare for a safe-as summer. 

Social media tiles, printable posters and other visuals can be accessed here: Assets: Have a safe-as summer | COVID-19 Resource Toolkit (covid19.govt.nz) with more to come including a summer checklist, content in alternate formats and translated into 13 languages. Just check back at the link regularly for more content.

Other places to find safe-as summer messages are: 

• The Unite Against COVID-19 safe-as summer webpage: Have a safe-as summer | Unite against COVID-19 (covid19.govt.nz) 
• Social media: 
• Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora | Facebook 
• Unite against COVID-19 | Facebook 
• Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand | Facebook  

Ngā mihi nui,

Sandy

Sandy Thambiah

Senior Adviser, Engagement

National Immunisation Programme

waea pūkoro: +64 21 248 1288| īmēra: sandy.thambiah@health.govt.nz

133 Molesworth Street, Te Whanganui-a-Tara

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