April 04, 2023
Important to get immunised as flu threatens
Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare is urging whānau to avoid needle fatigue and get their tamariki immunised.
Vaccines for this winter’s likely flu strains are now available, and health authorities are also concerned about the risk of measles and whooping cough outbreaks because of low vaccination rates.
Mr Henare says Māori health providers are a critical part of the response.
“Terms like needle fatigue or vaccination fatigue or immunisation fatigue, it is a serious challenge for us out there so the panui is please make sure your children are immunised, get to a GP, get to a doctor, get to one of your Māori health providers, I know there are some amazing kaupapa being run out of marae and in communities where vans and mobile clinics are rolling into communities to make sure our whānau have access to these immunisations. It’s really important for our tamariki,” he says.