6. Question No. 6—HealthDr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 6—Health6. Dr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of Health: How many of the 300000 at-risk young people have been vaccinated in the measles catch-up campaign announced in July 2020 and what other non-COVID vaccination efforts are there if any to protect New Zealanders this winter?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): The July 2020 commitment to a catch-up campaign arose out of a number of preceding incidents. Firstly a 2014-15 sero survey showed systematically lower measles seropositivity for the birth cohort from 1980 to 1999. Secondly in May 2017 the New Zealand National Verification Committee for measles and rubella reported there was a need to ensure that existing significant pockets of susceptible individuals are identified and immunised" in a catch-up campaign. No action was taken by the Government of the day following either of those warnings. After the measles outbreak in 2019 efforts to address the immunisation gap in those young people finally got under way. There was a particular need to prioritise a one-dose catch-up campaign for people born between 1989 and 2004 who had an unknown MMR immunisation status. Since July 2020 22764 doses have been given. Because of the pandemic a decision was made to pause the measles catch-up campaign between March and November 2021 to focus on responding to COVID-19. To the second part of the member's question we have a range of targeted measures to ensure people can access vaccination. This includes funding additional free flu vaccines this year as well as the usual National Immunisation Schedule series of vaccines that are offered free to babies children adolescents and adults.Dr Shane Reti: How many people then were vaccinated between the start of the campaign in July 2020 and as he has just told us when the campaign was concluded or paused in March 2021?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The campaign was paused in March last year because by that time a vaccine was available for COVID-19 and it was important for the health system to assemble the significant workforce needed to administer that vaccination campaign which to date has led to the administration of more than 10.8 million doses of a vaccine for that particular condition. I don't have the precise figure of what number of doses were administered at that time but the campaign for the immunisation catch-up resumed in November last year and doses have been administered since then to the current date.Dr Shane Reti: What responsibility does he take for having to destroy nearly $4 million of measles mumps and rubella vaccines that expired last month and how many hip operations could that $4 million have paid for?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: We have had a health system that has had to respond at pace to a worldwide pandemic and had to go from business as usual to administering currently 10.8 million vaccinations to our population to keep them safe from the horrors of COVID-19. That does require trade-offs. The reality is no system particularly a system of our size can do absolutely everything asked of it. So when we make trade-offs we have to trade off assembling the workforce drawn from the current health workforce to do the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and because the borders were closed and the risk of measles infection was way way lower than hitherto had been the case it was a trade-off that I was prepared to back. Hon Willie Jackson: What steps is the Government taking to increase the availability of the free influenza vaccines in order to help protect New Zealanders this winter?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Last month we announced that the Government would fund an additional quarter of a million more free flu vaccines for this year's winter campaign to protect our most vulnerable communities and the health system. We can expect to see more seasonal flu in New Zealand this year as we reopen our borders and now up to 2 million New Zealanders will be eligible for a free flu vaccination in 2022. This Government has been actively planning and investing for this winter—and of course many more to come—because we take health seriously. We know this will save lives we know this will preserve capacity in the health system and we know that it will lead to a healthier better outcome for all New Zealand communities. Hon Peeni Henare (remote): Can the Minister confirm that despite the challenges of COVID-19 in the year 2020 the Māori flu vaccination rate was the highest it has ever been in history?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I can confirm that because one population that the health system has struggled to provide appropriate immunisations to is Māori particularly tamariki and rangatahi but 2020 saw a record number of immunisations administered as the catch-up campaign took off. I'm confident that we will pick up those numbers again as the campaign picks up momentum again this year.Dr Shane Reti: Does he stand by his answer to written questions that in two weeks' time another $5 million worth of MMR vaccine will also expire and how many hip operations could that $5 million have paid for?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I stand by all my written questions and indeed all the things that I put into the public arena unlike that member who's had to withdraw the figures and numbers he's relied upon.Dr Shane Reti: Was this $9 million failure a factor in Treasury's latest Investor Confidence Rating assessment of the ministry he leads being graded a D with especially poor project delivery?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: We have asked an extraordinary amount of our Ministry of Health in the last two years as they've responded to the worldwide pandemic. They've had to gear up an extraordinary workforce not only running and planning the response to COVID-19—making sure the health system is equipped to provide the healthcare that is needed—but also to source to procure and then to administer the vaccine in the biggest vaccination campaign this country has seen in its history. We've had to press into service people in our health system who have not been pressed into service before—the biggest vaccination workforce we've ever had. That has given a lot more people an opportunity to be part of a health system with now ambitions and aspirations and to play a long-term role in it. This Government will be supporting them to do that."