23/04/20
Kia ora koutou Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you directly at your meeting last Friday. I trust that the information I shared gave you the context in which we are operating and reassurance that we are doing all we can to maintain continuity of supply of influenza vaccine. You will have received the Immunisation Update last night in which the paediatric vaccine for influenza was specifically mentioned. There are limited supplies of Afluria Quad Junior. This year, 21,000 doses have been brought into the country and almost all stocks of this vaccine have been distributed. However we have only received a small number of claims for this - just over 2,000. We need to ensure that stock is retained to be able to continue to vaccinate eligible at-risk children aged 6 to 35 months. I am asking for your assistance in reconciling the gap in information we have between the distribution for Afluria Quad Junior and the claims. We urgently need to establish the quantity of this vaccine currently with providers. If you could complete the following table for your practices it would greatly assist with our ability to distribute the remaining doses to where they are most needed. I appreciate the demands on you at the moment but if we could have this information back by COB Tuesday 28 April, it really would support our decision making. The information can be emailed directly to immunisation@health.govt.nz Practice name
# registered # paediatric # paediatric children aged 6-35 vaccines ordered vaccines months, eligible to administered receive a funded influenza vaccine
# remaining in stock at practice
You may wish to use this an opportunity to reinforce to your providers the importance of using the paediatric vaccine only for children eligible to receive a funded dose. Many thanks for your support. NgÄ mihi Kath
Kath Blair Manager, Immunisation | Child & Community Health Group | Ministry of Health | New Zealand C: 021 597 120 | D: (04) 816 3936 | E: kath.blair@health.govt.nz