May 12, 2023
Close contact prescription for vax catch up
The Health Ministry’s deputy director Māori says getting services as close as possible to where people live could be key to improving vaccination rates.
The ministry is concerned at low levels of immunisation for diseases like measles and whooping cough in some Maori and Pacific communities.
John Whaanga says its strategy includes working with pharmacies and Maori and Pacific community providers to make it as easy as possible to get vaccinated.
“Broadening the range, and certainly chemists have been able to provide vaccinations for some time, but broadening the range of people who can vaccinate in places like chemists but also getting our community providers and enabling them to get ot to community sites that are even close to where people want to get vaccinated,” he says.
Mr Whaanga says Te Whatu Ora and the Maori health authority Te Aka Kai Ora are also working through the recommendations of the Immunisation Taskforce to improve funding streams and the role of technology and communications.