Chadwick Steve: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Chadwick Steve: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19150] 
3.  
STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: What steps is the Ministry of Health taking to ensure the flu vaccine programme is undertaken effectively? 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Before I start I tell the House that my answer is a little longer than my usual short responses. I am advised that a manufacturing problem has been detected in the vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur which is the world’s largest influenza vaccine supplier with 40 percent of the world’s market and 70 percent of the Southern Hemisphere’s market. Concerns centre on the vaccine’s effectiveness not on its safety. The Ministry of Health is making a series of announcements this afternoon. 
Pharmac is seeking to purchase alternative supplies of the flu vaccine and so far 50000 doses have been secured by Solvay Pharmaceuticals which will be in New Zealand within the next 2 weeks. The ministry will use these doses to vaccinate those considered by expert advice to be in the highest-need groups. 
The ministry through its regulatory agency Medsafe is also exploring a number of alternative regimes including giving two doses of the Sanofi Pasteur vaccine in order to improve effectiveness provided that they meet safety efficacy and operational requirements. Medsafe and an independent expert advisory group are currently advising the Ministry of Health on these issues and I expect a decision in a week. 
Steve Chadwick 
: Who has been providing the Ministry of Health with advice on the vaccine and do they support the ministry’s advice on proposed options? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Since becoming aware of the concerns the ministry and Medsafe have been in consultation with a special independent expert advisory group and I am advised that its members agree with the options that the ministry is considering. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: How does the Minister intend to manage the logistics of immunising tens of thousands of vulnerable people in the South Island if and when an effective flu vaccine arrives given the warning from senior health professionals that due to the imminent roll-out of the meningococcal vaccine there are simply not enough staff to carry out both exercises effectively? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I am advised by the Ministry of Health that the fact that the meningococcal B vaccine programme is due to roll out in the South Island may well help us roll out the flu vaccine because additional nurses have been employed all around New Zealand to undertake this programme. That is the advice I have received. I do not know where the member gets his. 
Barbara Stewart 
: What assurances can the Minister give to the public that every person who should receive the flu vaccine will receive a fully effective vaccine before the flu arrives this winter? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I can give the assurance that the Ministry of Health Pharmac and Medsafe are doing their best to secure an effective vaccine—purchasing other vaccines but also working on the vaccine that was to be supplied. That vaccine is effective against two of the three suspected influenza strains we will receive in New Zealand. It has some effectiveness against the third strain but it is not as potent as it ought to be. We are looking at how we can improve that. 
Steve Chadwick 
: Why does New Zealand have a single provider for this vaccine and why was the supplier changed this year? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Since the introduction of the vaccination programme in 1997 New Zealand has always had a sole-supplier contract. This is because we are a very small proportion of the total world market. The company selected was selected in a transparent request for proposals process the same way we have always contracted for the vaccine. It was decided to accept a company that makes 40 percent of the vaccines globally and 70 percent of the vaccines for the Southern Hemisphere. The company has already acknowledged that the efficacy issues are its responsibility. All the Southern Hemisphere countries are facing the same dilemma as that confronting New Zealand.