Vaccines: PHARMAC’s role

Vaccines: PHARMAC’s role

PHARMAC lists all publicly funded vaccines in the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

Unlike other medicines, PHARMAC purchases and maintains a stock of all funded vaccines. The influenza (flu) vaccine and covid-19 vaccine are managed differently.

How PHARMAC decides what vaccines to list in the Schedule

Vaccines are added to the Pharmaceutical Schedule the same way as any other medicine. Someone, usually a vaccine supplier, applies to PHARMAC to fund a vaccine. PHARMAC then convenes the Immunisation Subcommittee of the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC). The Subcommittee gives us clinical advice on vaccine funding applications and other matters.

Browse the National Immunisation Schedule (Section I of the Pharmaceutical Schedule) which lists all funded vaccines: reference [27]

The Ministry of Health maintains a separate list, also called the National Immunisation Schedule. It lists the vaccines that are offered free to babies, children, adolescents and adults.

Read the National Immunisation Schedule – Ministry of Health website: reference [28]

Covid-19 vaccine

PHARMAC was part of the all-of-government team that secured agreements for four different Covid-19 vaccines for New Zealanders.

Read more on this topic: https://pharmac.govt.nz/news-and-resources/covid19/covid-19vaccines/

Who can get vaccinated

PHARMAC manages eligibility for funded vaccines. They target the funding for vaccines to ensure those who will benefit most can get vaccinated.

Deciding how much to buy

Some vaccines take a long time to make (up to 18 months). This can make knowing how much vaccine to buy difficult as PHARMAC needs to forecast so far in advance of when it's needed.

For example, they did the forecasting for 2020's pneumococcal vaccine in mid-2019, before the covid-19 virus was even heard of. PHARMAC considers a range of factors when forecasting vaccine usage, including:

• population changes

• recent demand for the vaccine

• any special programmes the Ministry of Health or DHBs may have planned

• other events that might change the demand for vaccines, such as outbreaks overseas.

Vaccine distribution

PHARMAC contracts a pharmaceutical wholesaler to run the National Vaccine Store. When a vaccine supplier delivers the vaccine that they ordered, it gets delivered to the National Vaccine Store.

Depending on the vaccine, they usually hold between 4 and 6 months’ stock at any time. For many vaccines, deliveries are received every month.

Distributing to the regions

PHARMAC also contracts a pharmaceutical wholesaler to run the Regional Vaccine Stores. These stores are located around New Zealand. The health professionals who administer publicly funded vaccines get the vaccine from their nearest Regional Vaccine Store.

Making sure there’s enough vaccine

PHARMAC aims to to have a supply of vaccine available to meet the forecast demand. There may be times when unexpected changes in supply or demand affect the amount of stock that is available. PHARMAC maintains a safety buffer in case of unexpected events and they work closely with suppliers to manage any supply issues.

For all other medicines (and the flu vaccine), it’s the responsibility of the suppliers to ensure there’s enough stock in New Zealand when needed.

Source: [26] Vaccines - PHARMAC’s role