3. Question No. 3—HealthDr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 3—Health3. Dr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula) to the Minister of Health: How is the Government preparing for the forthcoming flu season?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): On 1 April we began our annual influenza vaccination season and I'm pleased to report to the House that on that day alone 24729 people got their flu jab. This year the Government is ramping up the flu vaccination campaign with 40 percent more free flu shots available this year as part of the COVID-19 winter plan. This means that while New Zealand usually uses about 1.4 million flu doses a year this year the Government is making 2 million doses available while widening eligibility for people to get vaccinated for free. In an ordinary year flu kills more than 500 New Zealanders but this is no ordinary year because for the past two years with the country closed to the rest of the world because of the pandemic we've been largely free of colds and flu and so this year we must be prepared for a much higher incidence of them.Dr Tracey McLellan: Who will be included in the expanded eligibility for flu vaccines?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: We routinely make the flu shot available for free for everyone over the age of 65 and for those who are pregnant or at risk of becoming seriously ill because of other underlying conditions. This winter on clinical advice we've widened eligibility to include Māori and Pacific people aged 55 and over because of the high epidemiological risk they face and this means an extra 39000 people can have the vaccine for free. It's also important to remember that like the COVID-19 vaccine vaccination against the flu provides indirect protection to those around us as a result of the increase in community immunity. This enables our whānau our workplaces and our health system all to gain benefits from a wider net of protection.Dr Tracey McLellan: How is the Government encouraging uptake this year?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Every year about half the people eligible for free vaccination take it up. But because of the heightened risk this year we will be running a public health campaign to remind people to boost their immunity by getting the vaccination. We're also looking at ways to increase the vaccination workforce to get flu shots to those who need them. Ordinarily GPs pharmacists and community health providers administer the vaccination. However for COVID we substantially expanded our vaccinator workforce and we are now working to introduce a new vaccinating health-worker role to be able to deliver flu vaccines as well. This fits with our Government's approach of building back better when it comes to our health system.Dr Shane Reti: Why did he let $3.8 million of flu vaccines expire last year and will this year's flu vaccine programme add more millions to his botched management of the immunisation schedule?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: That member's reliability with figures as we know is not good so I'm not going to comment on the figures that he uses except to say that this Government's track record in protecting New Zealanders against known health risks is actually a darned good one. That's why we had the COVID vaccination campaign. That's why we've been preparing for some months for this flu season and we are well prepared for it.