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Immunisation provides both individual protection and community protection from vaccine-preventable diseases. This makes it a powerful public health measure used all over the world to protect populations from diseases.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination is estimated to have saved around 20 million lives just between 8 December 2020 and 8 December 2021. In a non-pandemic year it still saves millions of lives and prevents people suffering from debilitating disabilities caused by a large range of diseases. So it’s important to maintain a good level of immunisation coverage in our communities.
In New Zealand, we are using more and more outreach clinics where multiple vaccinations can be provided at once at public events. IMAC supports this sort of outreach work continuing and expanding. Great outreach is being done by Māori and Pasifika health providers for example, but the statistics still paint a concerning picture.
For vaccines to have their optimal effect a high proportion of the population needs to be immunised. High coverage and on-time immunisation benefits those who have been vaccinated and can also provide protection for people who are not able to be immunised due to their age or a specific health condition.
Unfortunately, Aotearoa New Zealand has struggled with low immunisation coverage, which means that we have been unable to prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases (Nowlan et al., 2019).
A particular area of concern is the ethnic breakdown, which shows concerning equity differences that need to be addressed, particularly around the timeliness of receiving immunisations at the right age. Delaying vaccination puts young children at high risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, in particular whooping cough and measles.
Immunisation coverage for New Zealand children at 24 months of age is almost 83% for the three-month period ending 30 September 2023. Māori and Pasifika rates are lower still and show an urgent need to support and expand the good work being done by Māori and Pasifika health providers working closely with their communities to reach those that can’t easily access vaccinations.
The graph below shows how immunisation coverage has changed significantly over time in New Zealand for all age milestones up to 5 years of age.
6 months: Immunisation coverage for those aged 6 months reached its highest point to date of 82.0% in December 2015. Coverage at the 6-month milestone has since decreased and was 67.4% in September 2023*.
8 months: Immunisation coverage for those aged 8 months reached its highest point to date of 93.7% in December 2015. Coverage at the 8-month milestone has gradually decreased and was 82.6% in September 2023*.
12 months: Immunisation coverage for those aged 12 months reached its highest point to date of 95.0% in June 2016. Coverage at the 12-monthmilestone has since decreased and was 87.0% in September 2023*.
18 months: Between June 2009 and September 2023 immunisation coverage for those aged 18 months reached its highest point to date of 86.5% in September 2016. The immunisation coverage for the 18-month age group in September 2023* was 67.3%.
24 months: Immunisation coverage for this age group reached its highest point to date of 93.5% in March 2016. Coverage has subsequently decreased and was 82.5% in September 2023*.
54 Months: Data on Immunisation coverage at the 54-month milestone has only been monitored since March 2020, at which point coverage was 82.1%. Immunisation coverage for the age group was 67.0% in September 2023*.
5 Years: Between June 2010 and September 2023 immunisation coverage reached a peak of 89.2% in December 2019. Coverage has since decreased and was 78.8% in September 2023*.
*September 2023 is the most recent coverage data available.
Footnote: Please note that coverage at the 18-month milestone was especially affected by the MMR schedule change in 2020, which is described in more detail on the Immunisation Coverage page.
CLICK HERE to learn more about immunisation coverage in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to keep up to date with the the most recent data.
