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Two reports have identified major problems with the launch of the measles and flu vaccine in the country.
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A record number of people were vaccinated in this year’s flu campaign and hundreds during the 2019 measles outbreak. Source: 1 NEWS
The reports, published by the Ministry of Health, find flaws in the distribution chain and contradictory information from officials.
It comes when a record number of people were vaccinated in this year’s flu campaign, in addition to the hundreds from last year’s measles outbreak, but many front-line staff have always been highly critical of the outcome of the programs.
“There are definitely issues that need to be rectified, especially around vaccine distribution,” said Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Medical Director Bryan Betty.
Reports now support these statements.
Last year, New Zealand’s largest measles outbreak in decades sparked a huge push to vaccinate people.
A report on the campaign concluded that it was “ad hoc and lacking in preparation.”
It also found communication to be “unclear, conflicting and inconsistent,” especially regarding the supply and availability of vaccines.
Many of these problems resurfaced during the launch of this year’s flu vaccine, with another report vindicating what doctors have been saying for months.
He found that flu vaccines could not be tracked and tracked and described “extreme” frustration in an inefficient supply chain with canceled and delayed orders.
The report highlighted mixed messages around officials pressuring patients to get vaccinated, only to find that there were no stocks.
“I don’t think the public has been misled at all,” says Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield.
“I didn’t see any emails about flu distribution issues myself before announcing the campaign. We were eager to get the campaign going; we had the vaccine and we wanted to start vaccinating people.”
Health Minister Chris Hipkins hopes that the problems described in the reports will be solved in the future.
“Steps are being taken to ensure that these kinds of things are improved.”
The next challenge will be to fix all the problems in the hopes of finding a Covid-19 vaccine.
