Following Pharmac’s move to bring forward funded flu vaccines for more than 260,000 young children, Nat Hornyak from Whānau Āwhina Plunket says the decision will make it easier for families to protect their children from serious illness.
As previously reported, the funded vaccine is available to all children aged six months to their fifth birthday.
“Influenza is often thought of as just a bad cold, but for young children it can lead to serious illness, complications and hospitalization,” Hornyak says.
Hornyak says recent child health data shows younger children are bit hardest by the flu.
“Infants aged one year and younger more than six times [as likely], and children aged two to four years more than four times as likely to be hospitalized with influenza as older children and adolescents,” she says.
Removing the cost barrier is an important step in helping families protect their children, Hornyak says.
“We encourage parents and caregivers of eligible tamariki and pēpi to take advantage of this safe, funded vaccination,” she says.
Parents and caregivers of eligible children are encouraged to speak to their usual health provider, pharmacist or vaccinator about getting the funded vaccine.
In some communities, immunisation appointments may also be available through Plunket’s immunisation service.
For more information visit Plunket.
