133 Molesworth St PO Box 5013 Wellington Date:
11 October 2018
Pages: 1 of 2
To:
Primary Care Teams, Health Professionals
From:
Jane Chambers, Acting Manager Immunisation
Subject:
HPV vaccine supplies, Year 7/8 recalls, Medtech update, Hepatitis B, Influenza, MMR vaccine safety, Health Professionals survey
HPV Vaccine supplies Limited supplies of HPV vaccine have now resumed to New Zealand, and were initially distributed to school-based immunisation programmes (SBIPs) to enable them to begin vaccination with dose 2 of this year’s programme. From 15 October 2018, general practices and other vaccinators will be able to order 1 box of the vaccine per fortnightly order cycle. HPV vaccine is expected to be available without restriction from mid-November 2018 as additional stock arrives. Please do not book patients in unless you have vaccine onsite. Patients who have turned 27 years of age since 1 April 2018 and who receive their first dose of HPV vaccine by 1 April 2019 will still be eligible to complete their free vaccination course. Please submit a manual claim for doses given to these patients. Likewise international students who turn 18 years of age during this period and who receive their first dose of HPV vaccine by 1 April 2019 will still be eligible to complete their free vaccination course. Please submit a manual claim for these patients. Patients who turn 15 years of age during this period and have not yet begun HPV vaccination or completed their course will need three doses to be fully protected. Recall for Year 7 and 8 vaccinations General practices play an important role in increasing immunisation rates when they recall children who were not vaccinated in SBIPs. However, there is a risk of duplicate immunisations and increased workload for both the SBIP teams and primary care nurses if children are recalled too young. In the North Island and those parts of the South Island with SBIPs, the Ministry recommends general practices recall at age 14 years, not younger, unless they have been notified by the SBIP team that the child’s family has chosen vaccination at general practice. The Ministry advises general practices to: recall when advised by the SBIP that the parent prefers the vaccination be provided by the GP, or that the child only partially completed their vaccinations at school recall at 14 years of age if any of Tdap, HPV or MMR are not completed. If a parent requests Tdap or HPV vaccination in general practice before their child is eligible for the SBIP please ensure the child is opted on to the NIR, so that the SBIP can access that information and reduce the chance of duplicate immunisation. Medtech update On 10 August 2018 Medtech released Version 22.15 (Build 5845) of their PMS. This release contains the 'NIR Message Transfer Utility Fix' which ensures immunisation messages are sent from your PMS to the NIR. While this release is listed by Medtech as "not a critical notification"
there is likely to be an impact on your immunisation coverage rates until it is installed. We therefore recommend that all PHOs and practices arrange for this update to be made as soon as possible, if you have not already done so. Paediatric hepatitis B vaccine now available Stock of the paediatric hepatitis B vaccine (HBVaxPRO 5mcg/0.5mL) for neonates and children is now available at all ProPharma branches. Please ensure you note the change in dose and volume. Engerix-B 20mcg/1mL continues to be the hepatitis B vaccine available for adults and adolescents. For more information please refer to the Immunisation Handbook. Refunds for unused influenza vaccine One refund will be available for a total of:
10 doses of unused Influvac Tetra and/or 1 dose of unused Fluarix Tetra and/or 10 doses of unused Influvac (trivalent).
Please ensure you continue to have influenza vaccine stock available until 31 December 2018 for those who are eligible for influenza vaccination, particularly for all pregnant women. MMR vaccine safety We have undertaken a closer analysis of MMR vaccination rates and declines since early July following the inquest into the death of two babies in Samoa, and at this stage we have not observed any significant changes compared with the period before the deaths. We will continue to monitor immunisation rates at relevant ages by ethnic group, to ensure we can quickly respond to any emerging issues. For more information please refer to https://www.health.govt.nz/newsmedia/news-items/ministry-health-statement-investigation-mmr-vaccine-safety-samoa The Ministry of Health reiterates the safety of the MMR vaccination - it has an excellent safety record. We continue to have full confidence in the safety of New Zealand’s immunisation programme, including the safety of the vaccine itself, vaccinator training including screening for contraindications, and storage and distribution. Health Professionals Survey: What's working and what's not, in achieving optimal immunisation coverage Practice nurses and Outreach Immunisation teams - watch out for an online survey from the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC), aimed at better understanding the challenges vaccinators are currently facing in delivering the New Zealand Childhood Immunisation Schedule. The survey will take up to 10 minutes to complete. IMAC will circulate a link in the coming days, via various sources (e.g., ImmNuZ).
If you have any queries about anything in this update, please email immunisation@moh.govt.nz