National Immunisation Schedule Changes Effective from 1 July 2014

Date: 30 June 2014 Pages: 1 of 3 To: General Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Practice Managers, Health Professionals From: Rayoni Keith, Manager, Immunisation Subject: Coverage update, Measles Update, Schedule Changes NIR/PMS changes, RotaTeq catch-up, Ordering the new vaccines, Errata in Immunisation Handbook 2014, New Resources, Changes to serology testing

Coverage update Immunisation figures for infants at eight months old remain steady on 91% nationwide. The Ministry continues to support efforts to increase infant immunisation rates by commissioning radio advertising, with more to follow in the coming months to support on time immunisation, including a focus on the new rotavirus vaccine. The Ministry has been sending weekly updates to DHBs and PHOs on their coverage rates, which are beginning to trend upwards.

National Immunisation Schedule changes effective from 1 July 2014

NIR and PMS changes The NIR, your local practice management systems (PMS) and Proclaim have been updated for the Schedule changes. Please ensure that you update your PMS with the new software before 1 July 2014 (Intrahealth may not release their updates until 1 July or later – please contact them if you have any concerns). The payment system will not work for the new vaccines until 1 July. Please call 0800 281 222 for any issues regarding the payment system. For issues related to your PMS update please contact your PMS vendor:

PMS Phone number Build number Medtech32 v20.11 Medtech 0800 2MEDTECH (263 3832) Medtech Evolution 1.4.2.17 Houston 0800 401 111 extension 1 Houston VIP v9.14d My Practice 0800 myPractice (0800 69 77 22) My Practice v14.5.5288.41885 Intrahealth 0508 300 900 (tbc)

From 1 July please record the following vaccines on the NIR for both children and adults who meet the eligibility criteria for these publicly funded vaccines: Rotavirus (RV5), Meningococcal C (MenCCV), Influenza, Varicella (VV), MMR, Hepatitis A, Tdap (dTap) - pregnant woman, Hepatitis B, and Meningococcal A, C, Y and W135 (MCV4-D).

Key Schedule Changes The key Schedule changes are listed on the Ministry of Health website at http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness/immunisation/new-zealand- immunisation-schedule/2014-immunisation-schedule-change RotaTeq® vaccine catch-up for babies born 19 March to 19 May 2014 Babies born between 19 March and 19 May 2014 can be offered the RotaTeq vaccine from 1 July 2014 ONLY if the first dose is given BEFORE they are 15 weeks old.

Babies born 19–24 March will have less than one week to receive their first RotaTeq® dose. Babies born 25–31 March will have until 7-14 July to receive their first RotaTeq® dose.

Rules for RotaTeq® catch-up doses The first RotaTeq® dose MUST be given before 15 weeks of age, i.e. up to and including 14 weeks and 6 days old. The two remaining RotaTeq® doses must be completed before 8 months of age. A minimum interval of four weeks is required between each of the three doses.

Ordering the new vaccines The RotaTeq vaccine can be ordered from your local ProPharma supplier.

Prevenar 13 will be distributed once existing stocks of Synflorix have been used – this is likely to be during August. In the interim single doses of Prevenar 13 will continue to be available on an ‘as needed basis’ only for children who meet the high risk eligibility criteria.

Please check the ProPharma website at www.fundedvaccines.co.nz before booking patients who will be eligible for the new special group vaccines as some of these vaccines are not yet available. Note: the funded vaccines Menactra, NeisVac-C and Varilrix will only be available on an ‘as needed basis’. Please do not stockpile doses of these vaccines in your fridge.

Errata in Immunisation Handbook 2014

The Immunisation Handbook 2014 is available online and as an e-pub version for use on tablets or e-readers on the Ministry of Health website at www.health.govt.nz/publication/immunisation- handbook-2014

Chapter 11 Measles - contains errors on p289 & p298, which have been amended in the PDF version. The online and e-pub editions will be amended in the next version update. Please make the following corrections to your hardcopy handbook version:

 p289 Key Information “Funded vaccines” – first dot point “1969” corrected to “1968” and “5 doses” corrected to “2 doses”.

 p298 title - Adults born after “1969” corrected to “1968”

 p298 para one – All individuals born “since 1969” corrected to “after 1968” who…..

 p298 para four – All persons born ”since 1969” corrected to “after 1968”.

New resources are now available from HealthEd New resources supporting the 2014 National Immunisation Schedule are now listed and available to order from HealthEd at this link. Alternatively, browse to the Health Topic: Immunisation and Vaccination on the site, and sort by revision date. Changes to serology testing for babies born to mothers with chronic hepatitis B infection Babies who are born to mothers who are HBsAg positive require serological testing at around 9 months of age. This is a change from the previous recommendation for serological testing at age 5 months. These babies should still receive a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and hepatitis B immunoglobulin as well as the vaccines given at ages 6 weeks, 3 months and 5 months. Changes will be made to record the outcome of the serological testing on the NIR but these will not be completed by 1 July.

If you have any queries about anything in this update, please email [email protected].