On this page
- About AIR
- Why we need AIR
- Benefits of AIR
- Designed with the health sector
- How AIR will be delivered
- How and where have we engaged
- Information for general practice
- Information for pharmacy
- Information for Māori and Pacific Health Providers
- Information for other health practitioners
- Information for health software vendors
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Get in touch
About AIR
The AIR is used to help control the spread of infectious diseases by:
- providing information about immunisation coverage across the population
- keeping a record of the vaccinations New Zealanders have received or chosen not to receive.
Why we need AIR
Over their lifetime, New Zealanders can receive vaccinations from a range of health providers. At the moment, health providers can’t always get a full picture of a person’s vaccination history to help them and the consumer make the best health decisions.
The AIR will provide an accurate understanding of population immunisation coverage rates. This means programmes can be planned better to support populations with the lowest immunisation rates.
The AIR will reduce digital barriers and support the health sector to deliver better immunisation services.
The AIR will also give New Zealanders a way to record and track immunisations they have received and are entitled to.
Benefits of AIR
Because immunisation healthcare providers will be able to access immunisation health records, they can make better decisions about whether a person should or should not receive a vaccination.
We can quickly and efficiently update the health sector about changes to the National Immunisation Schedule.
The AIR is being co-designed with health providers with a strong emphasis on Māori and Pacific providers and is incorporating learning from their collective experience. The project will be business and health sector led and technology enabled.
The health sector will have opportunities to use more accurate aggregate-level vaccination data to understand vaccine uptake and make decisions to address inequities in vaccination rates.
Designed with the health sector
The AIR is being designed to improve equity across providers by removing digital barriers to vaccination. It will support the entire health sector to deliver better immunisation services.
By providing a better understanding of population vaccination rates, the AIR will allow those planning health services to deliver them in a more equitable way. This will help ensure that groups most at risk have the best access to appropriate vaccinations.
The AIR is being co-designed with health providers and the vaccinating workforce. Drawing on collective experience and altering the AIR in response to insights means we can make sure the system works for all users. There has been a strong emphasis on engaging with Māori and Pacific health providers who provide vaccinations, and we worked with a small group of Māori providers to pilot the AIR vaccinator portal.
How AIR will be delivered
The AIR is being delivered in phases. During phase one, we focused on improving the capacity of the system to understand population coverage (with an emphasis on influenza). This phase is complete.
We are now completing phase two, building all the key components that are required to support the future state of the AIR, while co-existing with the NIR and Covid Immunisation Register (CIR). We can complete phase three when we are able to disestablish these legacy systems.
During phase four we will look for opportunities for AIR to add additional value to support immunisation services.
How and where have we engaged
The AIR programme has been engaging with immunisation providers, the vaccinating workforce, Te Whatu Ora teams, industry bodies and software vendors.
We regularly attend a variety of sector hui to share updates. We also run a series of workshops that allows us to collect insights, and test design concepts with end users.
Information for general practice
From 9 November 2022, general practices have started to receive notifications whenever any of their enrolled patients have received an MMR vaccination (as captured in the AIR vaccinator portal).
This was extended to include notifications of Tdap vaccinations from 30 November 2022.
General practices that use an electronic patient management system (PMS) connected to the NIR will continue to record vaccinations in their PMS.
There is no expectation that they adopt the AIR vaccinator portal. We are working with your PMS software vendors to connect your system to the AIR.
NIR status queries from your PMS
Vaccinations recorded in the AIR will not be included when a status query is requested via your Patient Management System (PMS) to NIR. To get a person’s full vaccination records, we encourage you to contact our online helpdesk or your regional AIR Admin (formerly NIR Admin). Once the GP notification system is set up, you will only need to contact the AIR Admin or the helpdesk for casual or non-enrolled consumers.
Helpdesk information
Use the link here to access the AIR Service desk portal or call 0800 855 066 (press *4 and then *1).
Can GPs use the AIR vaccinator portal?
Yes, a GP can use the AIR vaccinator portal. Please contact AIR.engagement@health.govt.nz
Please note:
- You will be able to view vaccination history available in the AIR, CIR and NIR
- You will only receive notifications to your PMS for your enrolled patients
- Your current claiming method remains the same, as AIR does not handle claims
Information for pharmacy
Pharmacies can commence onboarding to the AIR. The AIR will replace the use of ImmuniseNow from Q1 2023.
Please refer to the AIR toolkit to sign-up.
To further explore what these changes mean for the pharmacy sector please follow the link to watch the recent pharmacy sector webinar here.
Please email air.engagement@health.govt.nz to start your sign-up journey as a facility manager.
Information for Māori and Pacific Health Providers
We will be looking to onboard Māori and Pacific Health providers as a priority group in preparation for the 2023 flu season.
Beginning in February, Māori and Pacific Health providers will be invited to begin signing up to use the AIR.
Please refer to the AIR toolkit to sign-up.
For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact air.engagement@health.govt.nz
Information for other health practitioners
Other parts of the immunisation sector, including community providers, occupational health and public health units, will be invited to start using the AIR from February 2023 in a staged approach, with a priority for Māori and Pacific Providers first.
Providers who provide flu vaccinations begin signing up to use the AIR in February in preparation for the 2023 flu season. Please refer to the AIR toolkit to sign-up.
Information for health software vendors
The AIR solution is designed to be future proofed through being aligned to the HIRA architecture and leverage existing capability.
We will start integrating the AIR and other digital health systems during phase four. The AIR sector integration team is looking at different options with software vendor groups to develop the connections.
Software vendors we are working with include GP patient management systems (PMS), pharmacy dispensing systems, hospital patient administration systems (PAS) and other provider systems.
For more information on software vendor integration, email air.engagement@health.govt.nz
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What vaccines can I record in the AIR?
As of 31 May 2023, the vaccinations available to record in the AIR are:
Current vaccinations available to record in the AIR are:
- HPV (Gardasil 9) - 13+ years only
- Influenza - all ages
- MenB (Bexsero) - 13+ years only
- MenACWY (Menactra) - 13+ years only
- MMR (Priorix) - 13+ years only
- Pneumococcal (PCV13) (Prevenar 13) – 13+ years only
- Pneumococcal (23PPV) (Pneumovax 23)
- Shingles (rZV) (Singrix) - 18+ years only
- Tdap (Boostrix) - 13+ years only
We will continue to make more vaccines available in the AIR vaccinator portal in the coming months.
What should I do if the vaccine I’m delivering is not currently available in the AIR?
If the vaccine you are offering is currently not available as an option in the AIR vaccinator portal, you are able to use the NIR3 form found here and send a copy to the district immunisation administrators for it to be uploaded into NIR. Your regional NIR admin contact details can be found on the AIR website here.
What age can the AIR record vaccines for?
Currently the vaccines available can be recorded on the AIR from 13+ years, except for influenza which can be recorded for all ages. At this time the AIR cannot accommodate the recording of childhood vaccines.
Childhood vaccines will be available in the AIR later in 2023, when the AIR is able to record immunisations within the national childhood schedule, set up a planned event, and report on missed events.
Is there a delay between entering a vaccination on the AIR and it showing in an individual’s vaccine history in the AIR?
Currently immunisations recorded in the AIR are visible in an individual’s AIR vaccination history straight away. Immunisations entered in the National Immunisation Register (NIR), or COVID-19 Immunisation Register (CIR) appear in the consumer’s vaccination history on AIR approximately 24 hours after they are recorded.
Once the NIR and CIR data is migrated to the AIR and those systems are retired there will be no delay between when a vaccination is recorded in the AIR and when the event is visible on the consumer’s vaccination history in the AIR.
Will records in the CIR be available to see in the AIR and vice versa?
In the AIR you can see the vaccination history of events recorded in all three immunisation registers (AIR, CIR and NIR). When using the CIR, you will only see events that have been recorded in the CIR, this is because CIR data will be migrated to the AIR later this year.
What ability do users have to edit or amend records?
You can edit vaccinations recorded on the AIR at any time after the event. Within the vaccinator portal you can edit product type, batch details and expiry dates, vaccination details such as route and dose number and the data and time administered.
Facility, vaccine type and consent cannot be edited. You cannot make changes to NHI, these are managed through HealthUI, which enables healthcare providers to connect to the National Health Index (NHI) database.
Are payments connected to the AIR?
The AIR does not support payments or claims for vaccinations. Providers should continue to use their current processes which may be:
- Those under primary care agreements should continue to submit claims through Proclaim using their PMS or an alternative system.
- Pharmacies should continue to submit claims through dispensary software or alternative system.
- Additionally, some providers may have a contract in place which requires an invoice submission for a claim. This process also remains unchanged with the introduction of the AIR.
Is the ability to work in the AIR ‘offline’ available now?
This ability is not yet available in the AIR, it may be added in the future. The AIR team are currently looking at options for how this might be achieved.
What do I need to consider as an occupational health provider using AIR to record privately funded vaccinations and providing reporting to employers on these privately funded vaccines?
Employers and Te Whatu Ora districts should be aware of the potential sensitivity surrounding the gathering of data and for the possibility of this being perceived as a mandated vaccine or having an impact on the consumer’s employment particularly in workforces who may have lost staff due to COVID-19 mandates.
Please note this relates to privately funded vaccination data collected by the workplace-based vaccination service only. Data from publicly funded vaccinations cannot be shared unless required under a public health mandate.
It is therefore encouraged that all communications from employers and occupational health providers are transparent and clearly outline to the employee what information will be shared, where it will be held and for what purposes and the organisation’s privacy policy are updated to include this data collection. For further details please follow the link here.
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand encourages all occupational health providers and employers review their privacy statements and ensure they accurately describe the collection and handling of personal information. This should include, where applicable, obtaining the individual’s consent to the share their personal information regarding the vaccination with their employer.
Please see below an example consent statement:
We may collect personal information from you for to provide you with vaccination services, assist in treatment, for quality and assurance purposes and to meet legislative requirements.
As part of our arrangement with your employer, we may need to share some of your personal information with your employer to enable them to ensure they meet health and safety and other requirements.
By completing and signing this consent form prior to receiving this workplace funded vaccination, you confirm that you understand and agree to your personal information being collected and handled in accordance with this statement.
Disclaimer: This is an example only. It is the responsibility of each occupational health provider to ensure their statements are accurate and individual consent obtained where required.
Who can I contact for support or to ask a question about using the AIR?
For support when using the AIR, please use the link here to access the AIR service desk portal or call the team on 0800 855 066 (press *4 and then *1). These channels are currently monitored:
- 8am - 5pm, Monday to Friday (from 9.30am on Wednesdays)
- 9am - 2pm, Saturday and Sunday
If you have questions and would like coaching, please email help@imms.min.govt.nz and ask the support team to send you a link to the drop-in sessions. These are available between 1pm and 1.45pm each weekday.
Please note that this service desk is for providers only and should not be used for consumer enquiries.
How can I contact my local AIR administrator?
Please find the contact details of your local AIR administrator listed below. This team can assist you to get a person’s full vaccination history.
Te Tai Tokerau Northland |
|
Te Toka Tumai Auckland |
0800 929 999 |
Waitematā |
0800 929 999 |
Counties Manukau |
0800 454 375 or 09 259 6994 |
Waikato |
nir_coordinators@waikatodhb.health.nz 0800 100 273 option 1 |
Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty |
0800 829 002 |
Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay |
0800 729 100 |
Te Pae Hauora o Ruahine o Tararua MidCentral |
06 350 4566 or 06 350 4568 |
Tairāwhiti |
06 869 2092 ext. 8732 or 0800 935 524
|
Lakes |
027 223 2406 |
Taranaki |
TDHB.RegionalScreeningTeam@tdhb.org.nz 06 753 7702 |
Whanganui |
|
Wairarapa |
06 261 8316 |
Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley |
04 886 5020 or 04 260 6611 |
04 570 9797 |
|
Nelson-Marlborough |
programme.support@nmdhb.govt.nz 03 543 7912 |
Waitaha Canterbury/South Canterbury |
03 337 8928 or 03 337 8966 |
Southern |
To be confirmed |
Te Tai o Poutini West Coast |
03 769 7532 or 03 769 7464 |
Get in touch
We value your thoughts and feedback about AIR.
To contact the AIR Programme, email air.engagement@health.govt.nz