Waikato MMR lists going to Healthlink folder

Where possible, we encourage practices to keep MMR immunisation a priority in conjunction with other timely vaccinations for influenza and COVID-19. To support practices with this, data lists of children with less than two recorded MMR’s on the National Immunisation Record have been made available to all practices today.

The 2019 measles epidemic in New Zealand showed young infants were most at risk of infection, followed by teenagers and adults under the age of 30. This was primarily due to low immunisation rates and incomplete vaccination records amongst this age group. The measles vaccination programme was then disrupted by COVID-19. 

Data lists available to Waikato practices

Data lists of children with less than two recorded MMR’s on the National Immunisation Record have been made available to all practices today via your Healthlink folder.

File name: [Practice ID, eg. 1234]_overdue_MMR_15m-6yrs.csv

This data list is sorted with Māori/Pasifika tamariki first, then descending by age and is current as of the date generated.

The criteria for this data include:

• all children enrolled at your practice currently aged between 15 months and 6 years old
• with 0 or 1 MMR vaccination in the NIR
• who do not have a declined MMR vaccine on record.

My PMS has two MMR vaccination events recorded - why are they still on this list? 

NIR is the 'one true source' of information. The quality of the data on NIR is dependent on the quality of data received from general practice and other places where immunisations are performed. It is where the Ministry of Health and Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand get immunisation figures from.

• For MMR vaccinations to map correctly to NIR and fit into the National Immunisation Schedule they need to have a correct indication. This needs to be either 12 month, 15 month or 4 years. A MMR entered as a booster, primary, standard or extra dose will not map correctly into the National Immunisation Schedule at NIR and will therefore not be recognised as a child who is fully vaccinated for MMR.
• If a child received MMR0 at 6-12 months they still require a further two doses of MMR (post 12 months of age) to be considered fully immunised for MMR.

How can I fix this and avoid these issues in the future?

• Resend the vaccination event to NIR with the correct mapping indication e.g 12m, 15m, 4yrs.
• When a new patient is transferring into the practice, ensure there is clinical oversight and a NIR query completed.
• Check Well Child Tamariki Ora book for vaccination records and update PMS.
• Ensure all clinical staff are aware of and flag any irregular entries on the PMS so that they can be rectified.
• Check with NIR 0800 100 273 to ensure that your measures taken to correct the data has worked.
• Check with PMS provider if continues to be an issue.
• Remember to consult with parents/guardian about opting on/off the NIR.