To: / General Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Practice Managers, Health Professionals
From: / Rayoni Keith, Manager, Immunisation
Subject: / Coverage, Let’s talk about immunisation,Influenza, NIR Notifications
Coverage update from Dr Pat Tuohy
Latest provisional figures show the highest immunisation rates ever for eight month olds at 93.7 percent, so congratulations on your hard work. The target of 95% immunisation has effectively been achieved for children enrolled in PHOs, so please make every effort to ensure babies seeking enrolment at your practice are promptly processed and approved.
Let’s talk about immunisation
Let’s talk about immunisation is a new guide for health professionals when talking about immunisation with expectant or new parents. Copies have been printed and distributed to practices and midwives. If your practice has not received a copy, please get in touch with your local immunisation co-ordinator. These will not be available to reorder in the short term.
Influenza
Preparations are under way for the 2016 influenza season. INFLUVAC® and FLUARIX® are the two funded vaccines, for all eligible patients. At this stage we expect continuous supply in late March – please wait until the date is confirmed before booking clinics. This year, the vaccines will include two new strains, A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus, and B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.
Changes to Influenza Kit for 2016
The Influenza Kit booklet and associated print resources have been reviewed and updated. The look remains the same as for 2015 using the blue dust theme. The 2016 Influenza Kit will be posted to practices in February, and is available for download from This year a starter pack of printed resources will be sent to practices in an initial mail out – this will also include brochures for pregnant women.
The initial mail out will include:
- Influenza Kit booklet
- A3/A4 waiting room poster
- Flu can be anywhere consumer information brochures (25)
- After immunisation pads (3x 50 sheets)
- Vaccine fridge stickers (2)
- Avoid flu during pregnancy consumer information brochures for pregnant women (25)
These print resources can now only be ordered online at . The vaccine order form is also available for download at this site. Please note the minimum order number listed for April has been updated to 60 since the Influenza Kit was printed.
Based on feedback from a 2015 survey of practice nurses, the following information previously in the printed Influenza Kit will only be available online at
- Claiming for funded vaccine
- Recording influenza immunisation on the NIR
- Related diseases (pneumococcal, meningococcal and pertussis)
- Use of antivirals for influenza treatment and/or prevention
- Vaccine data sheets
- Flu Kit references
Recording Influenza on the NIR
As in 2015, the Ministry expects influenza vaccinations given at general practices (including those given to pregnant women) to be recorded on their PMS to message through to the NIR. We are continuing to invest in the NIR infrastructure to avoid the overloading in previous years.
What do you need to do?
- To record an adult’s influenza vaccine on the NIR, select the opt-on button on your PMS.
- For adults not wanting their influenza vaccine recorded on the NIR please leave the opt-on field blank. The information will only be recorded on your PMS and will not be sent to the NIR.
- To help avoid errors in recording influenza on the NIR:
Ensure you have the most up to date PMS software version.
Send a list of any changes to the vaccinators and GPs who will deliver the influenza vaccine in your practice to your local DHB NIR administrator before the beginning of the influenza season to ensure they are entered into the system. This is critical to ensure your data messages to the NIR without causing an error in the system.
Vaccinators should validate patients’ addresses in all address fields before they are messaged to the NIR.
The provider should be noted as the “GP” and the nurse the “vaccinator”.
Pharmacy and the NIR
The Ministry continues to work towards enabling vaccinating pharmacists to be able to send influenza vaccine messages to the NIR and have developed a portal to enable this to occur. Initial testing of the portal and a pilot with one DHB will take place later in the season, before a national rollout is considered.
Notifications to general practices of a vaccination administered to their patients by another health professional
The Ministry is working on enabling GPs to receive notifications from the NIR of all ‘standard programme’ vaccines (which includes the special group at risk populations) that are given to their patients by another health professional.
From February notifications will be received for: influenza, varicella, meningococcal (A,C,Y &W 135) conjugate, meningococcal C conjugate, hepatitis A, hepatitis B DLK, Tdap-Primary course, and MMR-Primary Course. Notifications for HPV vaccinations will also be sent if individual’s nominated provider is already recorded in the NIR.
Enabling notifications to be sent to GPs will be progressively rolled out to GPs from February. We anticipate that the process of vaccine administration notification will be completed by mid to late March 2016.
Notifications for Td-45Y, Td-65Y and Tdap-Pregnant vaccinations will also be sent once the NIR/PMS 2015 changes go live. Please record vaccinations given to pregnant women (ieinfluenza and Tdap) on the NIR.
Further information regarding vaccine notifications will be sent to GPs separately.
If you have any queries about anything in this update, please email