This is our main page for the COVID-19 vaccination information. It is updated with the most recent and important information.
Information related to service specifications can now be found in our Programme section of the website: Lakes, Tairāwhiti, Taranaki, Waikato.
The fourth dose / second booster dose of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid may now be administered without prescription to eligible people. The dose can be administered at least 6 months from the last dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
A second COVID-19 booster is available six months after the first booster for older New Zealanders and other groups. It is recommended for those at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. For those who are not considered at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, a two-dose primary course and a booster dose provides very good protection against severe illness from COVID-19.
Please ensure your Book My Vaccine information is up to date so patients can book in with your practice - also check your information on Healthpoint.
The IMAC website also has more information about boosters.
A Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster dose is available for all rangatahi aged 16 and 17, six months after completion of the primary course (for most people, this is two doses).
For rangatahi under 16 years of age, a booster dose is not currently approved or recommended. Clinicians may consider giving a booster dose to 12- to 15-year-olds who are clinically at-risk. This would be considered unapproved (off-label) use and requires a prescription under Section 25 of the Medicines Act 1981, following a conversation about the risks and benefits.
Patients should wait for three months after testing positive for COVID-19:
A poster and social media tile is available to share with patients.
Vaccinating practices are encouraged to use the IMAC policy template alongside the original cold chain policy. This is because the original cold chain policy has no mention of COVID-19 vaccine storage requirements.
The Ministry of Health has released 2021 Addendum to national standards for vaccine storage and transportation providers 2017 (second edition). You will note the requirement for an ambient air temperature monitoring.
Medsafe has received data from Pfizer to vary the storage conditions for their COVID-19 vaccine. This data has been assessed and Medsafe has approved the new conditions for use in New Zealand.
Further information about the approved storage conditions for the Pfizer vaccine can be found in the New Zealand data sheet.
Healthpoint’s national directory of COVID-19 vaccination sites is used by the public, 0800 phone-operators and by national campaigns.
Vaccinating practices are asked to please update their Healthpoint listing to reflect they are a vaccinating site. Instructions how to do this can be found here (PDF). If you need assistance please contact Healthpoint on info@healthpoint.co.nz or call 09 630 0828.
Thank you for your support in developing this national directory.
If you notice that a listing on the Karawhiua mapping tool is missing, out-of-date or inaccurate, here’s some steps you can take to get it fixed. If a COVID-19 vaccine centre isn’t displaying on the Karawhiua.nz mapping tool, please email @Belinda Allen at Healthpoint and copy in @Hinerangi Barr at Te Puni Kōkiri.
The Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC) is your local source of scientific and clinical information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. It has a wide range of useful clinical COVID-19 resources, including frequently asked questions.
If you require more immediate clinical advice, including in the context of an individual patient or event, please call 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466 863). This is staffed by clinical advisors from 8am-8pm, seven days a week. Clinicians can also email 0800immune@auckland.ac.nz for advice.
Alternatively you can speak to your Pinnacle GP liaison, or Dr Jo Scott-Jones, medical director if you think it is a question with an answer worth sharing broadly in the network. Contacts listed below.
A support team has been set up to help people with disabilities get vaccinated. The team answering calls are either disabled themselves or allies of the community. They assist disabled people and their carers to get information about the vaccine, make bookings, organise tailored support at vaccination sites and arrange transport. People can call the COVID Vaccination Healthline on 0800 28 29 26 for free 8am–8pm Monday to Friday and ‘push 2’ to speak to the team.
The deaf and hard of hearing community can now text 8988 for access to vaccine information, for help booking a vaccination appointment, or to arrange transport to get vaccinated. The service, run by Whakarongorau Aotearoa on behalf of the Ministry of Health, is an addition to the COVID Vaccination Healthline dedicated phone and email support for disabled people and people living with impairments to get their COVID-19 vaccination. Please promote this service amongst your networks. A NZSL explanation is available on the Deaf Aotearoa website or via Vimeo.
To contact Whakarongau Healthline:
The Disability COVID Vaccination Healthline team is available between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday. Healthline can book transport and other accommodations. Alternatively, disabled people can use the NZ Relay Service to contact Healthline, which offers services for Deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired and deafblind people via:
The helpdesk is open 24/7 and can be reached via:
Please ensure all staff change the Provider setting on the CIR home screen to 'Midlands Regional Health Network Waikato Charitable Trust (Pinnacle)'.
These instructions can also be found here.
If any staff have problems seeing the correct Provider in the drop down list, please log a call with the COVID-19 Help Desk (via email or call 0800 223 987) and they can resolve this for you.
Your Facility and Site can remain the same.
For some people, the provider changes back to 'Waikato DHB' every time they want to log in. Please check this every time you log into the CIR.
The Provider setting is the trigger for the CIR PPD payment solution to ensure you get paid, so please ensure all staff set their Provider correctly.
If you haven't already done so, please complete this access request form for CIR which you can populate to get access to payment reporting in CIR.
It would be good practice to have a couple of people who can access this in case someone is away. These people will need to have done the basic CIR admin training to cover security and use of the system.
Once completed please send this form to your DHB and they will arrange approval by the DHB workforce lead and submit to the COVID-19 Help Desk for actioning.
For all sites under a Provider when a vaccination event has been completed in CIR, the next night the CIR PPD solution will automatically check this against the payment rules to ensure there are no errors. A provider should check the Payments Management Report on a regular basis to manage any transactions in error.
Booster and the third primary dose
Every Wednesday night the payment process will pick up all vaccination events successfully acknowledged (in the step above) up until the Sunday night and process them for payment. The payment will be made to you on the 5th and the 20th of the month.
When payment is made a Buyer Created Tax Invoice (BCTI) and Remittance are produced for the Provider (meaning you will not need to generate your own invoices). In the interim it is possible to use the CIR Payments Invoice Reconciliation instructions to work out which vaccination events were paid at which rate and match this back to the credit in your account.
View a copy of the payments technical training session presentation pack (PPT) here.
Further information is in the related resources linked below.
The Ministry of Health advice is under active review - please use their website as the source of correct, up to date information at all times.
Jan Adams, General Manager MHN / Nursing Director
jan.adams@pinnacle.health.nz
021 904 460
Michelle Bayley, Clinical Governance Programme Manager
michelle.bayley@pinnacle.health.nz
027 590 1241
Advice and resources for business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the COVID-19 lockdown virtual consultations for POAC cases were funded. We are pleased to announce that this will be a permanent change.
Read moreDo you know someone in the respiratory field or community who deserves recognition for their achievements in the community? Nominations are open for the 2024 Respiratory Achievers’ Awards, recognising people with respiratory conditions, and those working in the field of respiratory health, who have made personal achievements and/or positive impacts in their community.
Read moreThis funding is available for a GP/NP consultation with patients eligible for an advance prescription for COVID-19 anti-viral medication, prior to them testing positive for COVID-19. There is no obligation for a clinician to issue an advance prescription.
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