May 09, 2023
Vaccine catch up as measles lurks
The medical officer of health Auckland Public Health Service says vaccine hesitancy is posing a real risk to vulnerable Māori and Pasifika communities.
Health authorities are scrambling to get communities caught up with the MMR – measles, mumps and rubella – vaccine as they try to fend off a measles outbreak.
There are only three reported cases so far, all within the same family in Albany, but Dr William Rainger says it can spread six to eight times faster than Covid if it get out.
Complications can include ear infections which can cause hearing loss, pneumonia, diarrhea and brain inflammation.
We’d like to see 95 percent of children vaccinated with MMR, ut for Maori it is closer to 66 percent – so that is very,very low. So I say again. It is safe, it’s free, and its effective.
The MMR vaccine is part of the childhood immunisation schedule for children at 12 months and 15 months of age, and many New Zealand adolescents and young adults, aged between 15 and 30 years, may also need a catch-up vaccination because of historical gaps in vaccination coverage.