Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora has confirmed a funding package to help support general practice to pre-call, recall or refer parents and caregivers of newborn babies for their 6-week immunisations.
The funding package includes a base payment to general practice of $40 for every pēpi upon completion of their 6-week immunisation, regardless of where the vaccination was delivered. An additional $40 ($80 in total) will be provided to general practice if pēpi meets the high-priority criteria (Māori, Pacific, Community Services Card, Deprivation Quintile five and rural).
The funding is available from 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2025. Further detail on how funding will be distributed to general practice has been provided to Primary Health Organisations and will ensure access to funding can be backdated to 6-week immunisation events from 1 April 2024.
Health NZ supports a best practice approach, consistent with the RNZCGP Foundation Standard certification for general practices that provides the quality assurance and control processes for the delivery of childhood immunisation recalls and pre-call processes. PHOs will be funded to coordinate this initiative and facilitate best practice pre-call/recall and referral processes in general practice.
A media statement is available on the Te Whatu Ora website.
Last month, a decision was made to allow pharmacies to offer childhood immunisations as another option for whānau to access free vaccines in their communities. The free training package Extending Vaccinator Skills (Whole-of-Life) is now available on the IMAC website to support pharmacist vaccinators who wish to upskill to authorised vaccinators.
Onboarding guide and checklist
If you are interested in offering childhood immunisations, an onboarding guide and checklist are available on the Health New Zealand website under “Immunisation Service”. Participating pharmacies will be able to order childhood immunisations from 1 April.
Upcoming webinar
We will be hosting a webinar, to provide an overview of the training programme and onboarding information, and to answer any questions you might have. Webinar details are below. Please save the time and link in your diary. If you are not able to attend the webinar, it will be recorded and available for viewing on Dropbox shortly after.
Webinar: Childhood immunisations in pharmacy
Date: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Time: 7.00 to 8.00pm
Meeting link: Join the meeting here
Flu and Covid consent forms and post-vaccination leaflets are currently available on Dropbox in the ‘Influenza’ and the ‘Covid’ folders. These can be downloaded and printed as required. Printed copies can pre-ordered via Bluestar and will be sent out from around the 11th of April. Both items are supplied in packs of 25 sheets. Please note these are not available as pads.
We would also like to advise that due to overwhelming traffic to Dropbox, stakeholders were not able to access collateral and resources like they normally would in Dropbox on 4 April. This issue has since been resolved. We appreciate your support with promoting vaccinations apologise for any inconvenience.
Please note that the following resources have also been made available on HealthEd for downloading and printing if needed:
COVID-19 vaccination consent form - HP7565 – HealthEd
2024 Flu vaccination consent form - HP7990 – HealthEd
What you need to know about the flu vaccination - HP8682 – HealthEd
After the COVID-19 vaccination - HP8591 – HealthEd
What you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccination - HP8590 – HealthEd
We thank you for your patience. Details for accessing Dropbox and Bluestar are below.
Reminder: Flu webinar series – Hāpu Māmā
We warmly invite you to the next flu webinar, focusing on immunisation for pregnant people.
Please copy and paste the following details into your diaries if you are attending:
Webinar: Flu immunisation: focusing on supporting increased uptake amongst hāpu māma
Date: Tuesday 9 April 2024
Time: 12.15 to 1.15pm
Meeting link: Join the meeting here
Early questions can be emailed to: immunisation@health.govt.nz by 5pm, Monday 8 April
The aim of the webinar series is to support kaimahi across the sector with a dedicated discussion session for each priority group as we work together to drive early vaccination by increasing awareness and building on community outreach efforts.
Each hui will cover the clinical rationale for each eligibility group, tips on communicating effectively with each focus group, an overview of the support resources available, advice on concomitant vaccinations, and the opportunity to ask questions.
These webinars are open to all kaimahi – vaccinators, hauora providers, administrators, kaiāwhina and clinicians. There will be a recording available after each hui which we will share here Dropbox – Flu immunisation webinar series.
Please share this invitation with anyone who may be interested in attending and note the dates for the remaining hui below.
Upcoming dates for the remaining flu immunisation webinar hui
· Tuesday, 23 Apil 12.15 – 1.15pm – Pēpi and Tamariki - Join the meeting
· Tuesday, 7 May 12.15 – 1.15pm – Mental Health and Addiction Join the meeting
· Tuesday, 21 May 12.15 – 1.15pm – 65 and over Join the meeting
Don’t forget all our immunisation collateral is available on Dropbox for health care providers to use when promoting vaccinations. Please feel free to share this link and the collateral widely with your other healthcare colleagues: Dropbox – National Immunisation Programme – vaccine resources.
Immunisation resources are also available from HealthEd. We have added some of our immunisation collateral to HealthEd under the vaccinations and immunisations topic. You can now download the resource PDF directly from the HealthEd website, and printed copies of some resources are available to order through Bluestar. If you don’t already have a Bluestar login account, please see below on how to sign up.
Printed copies of some resources can be ordered for free via the Bluestar portal. If you’re not already registered, you can register on the Bluestar portal. Below the login details, select ‘Need to Register?’. Complete the online registration form, include your clinic/practice/pharmacy name and your contact details. You will receive an email confirming your registration. Remember to click the button in the email to 'Activate' your registration.
We're here to help! If there is anything we can do to help with your vaccination promotion activity, or if you need any comms assistance please reach out to the team:
Health sector Comms and Engagement
Sandy.thambiah@tewhatuora.govt.nz
Māori and Pacific Comms and Engagement
Eddie.sykes@tewhatuora.govt.nz
Media issues
hnzmedia@health.govt.nz
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