Latest news with #Netzler
NZ Herald
27-05-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Immunisation rates: Bay of Plenty, Lakes Māori children lag behind Europeans
Vaccines on the schedule are free for everyone under 18 in New Zealand, and include whooping cough and meningococcal B. The latest Health NZ data on its website showed 50.2% of eligible Māori children aged 24 months had received their childhood immunisations, compared to 75.7% of European children in the Bay of Plenty for the three-month period ending December 31, 2024. In the Lakes, 55.9% of eligible Māori children aged 24 months had received their childhood immunisations, compared to 76.1% of European children. Nationally, 77% of New Zealand children had received their childhood vaccinations by age 24 months for the same period. University of Auckland faculty of medical and health sciences senior lecturer Dr Natalie Netzler said many Māori children faced 'significant' structural and access barriers to vaccination. This included limited healthcare facilities in 'underserved' areas, lack of transport options to get to a clinic, and long wait times for appointments, she said. There were also issues accessing specific information about vaccines, particularly delivered in a culturally appropriate, trusted and supportive environment, Netzler said. 'Often the people I speak with in our communities are not 'anti-vax' ... they just have not had their specific query around vaccine safety answered, particularly if they or their child have an underlying health condition, and they are unsure of the safety of the vaccination.' There was also a significant lack of trust in some cases, given previous inequity and historical injustice, she said. Netzler said there were 'champions' across New Zealand tackling these barriers, including the Far North's Te Hiku Hauora Māori health service which took immunisations to communities who could not attend a clinic. She said ideally, more than 95% of 24-month-old tamariki would be fully vaccinated to help prevent a measles outbreak. 'The current low vaccine coverage we see is putting lives at risk.' She said measles was one of the most contagious but preventable viruses and could cause permanent hearing loss, brain inflammation and death. Netzler said the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine was the best protection against measles and was 99% effective after two doses. On May 13, Health Minister Simeon Brown said more than 80% of New Zealand children were fully immunised by age 24 months – the highest rate since early 2022. Brown said it was a 'big step' towards achieving its goal of 95% coverage by 2030. He said the Auckland measles case highlighted 'the urgent need' to protect children and communities from vaccine-preventable diseases. 'If your child has missed any vaccines, now is the time to catch up.'
NZ Herald
13-05-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
NZ child immunisation rates climb, Govt urged to address community disparities
'What we're seeing for some of our Māori communities is around 35% immunisation coverage and 44% for some of our Pacific communities. 'This is really concerning because after the 2019 outbreak of measles in Samoa, we saw over 80 people die. Even more tragically, they were mostly children under the age of four. 'I think one thing that we could really do better as a nation is have Government funding that really backs community leaders who are trusted within that community, who can help share the right information, in the right way. 'We saw this during Covid. The more work we did in this, the more investment we made, the higher those immunisation rates got. 'We actually saw for a while there Pacific communities leading the rates in terms of New Zealand vaccinations against Covid,' she said. Netzler said the reasons why some rates are so low are complex. " One of the real battles we have is misinformation and disinformation all about vaccines, but particularly about MMR. 'I think what's really important is that we get more funding from the Government to make sure that we can have community-led initiatives. 'We see a lot of access barriers in our harder-to-reach communities, but we also see some real champions. We see cases like the Moko Van in Te Tai Tokerau, which is taking the vaccine out to people who can't get to a clinic, which is really encouraging,' she said. Auckland case The country remains on high alert after an Auckland ferry worker tested positive for measles. They were infectious while on board 11 Fullers360 sailings on May 5, at a Kelston supermarket, and the Downtown car park on Customs St. Twenty-two staff at Woolworths Kelston were exposed and identified as close contacts. On May 7, they were at Unichem New Lynn and Pak'n Save Mt Albert. The marine crew member had recently travelled to Asia, but they weren't infectious on their flight home. Anyone at these locations at these times needs to check they have immunity to measles. You are considered immune to measles if you have proof of two doses of the MMR vaccine. People born before 1969 or who have evidence of having measles previously are also considered immune. Listen to the full episode You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
