Health experts call for flu vaccine to be fully funded for children under 12

By Bella Craig of RNZ

Experts are calling for the flu vaccine for under 12-year-olds to be fully funded – again.

Some GPs told RNZ’s Checkpoint they have seen a high number of children hospitalised with influenza this winter and data shows the number of people hospitalised with severe respiratory illnesses is at a five-year high.

In 2022 and 2023, the influenza vaccine was free for children under 12 and Māori and Pacific people aged between 55 and 64.

However, vaccine funding provided to Pharmac throughout the Covid-19 pandemic ran out this year, making the flu jab out of reach for some families.

An Auckland mum, who did not want to be named, said last year it was easy for her and her family of six kids to get the flu jab because it was free.

However, this year it was hard to find the money to do it.

“When it’s free, I guess everybody goes in and tries to get it done, but if you’re using your own money... for an extended family like mine, it’s going to be hard.

“Maybe everybody’s just going to put their health aside and just put more important things like groceries and food first [rather] than their own life.”

She said the flu vaccine should be funded again because paying for multiple vaccines meant families have to sacrifice other basics.

It can cost up to $45 per vaccine, depending on how much clinics and pharmacies charge.

She said in her community this winter, influenza has been rife.

At her GP’s clinic, she said the lines are always long, with people experiencing a range of respiratory illnesses.

“Every time I go to the doctors for my kids’ medicine or prescription, there’s a lot of lining up and it’s the same thing. It’s either the flu or the cough,” she said.

Data shows this year has seen the highest number of people hospitalised from severe respiratory illnesses since 2019.

Dr Nikki Turner, a public health advocate and GP based in Auckland, said this year the flu has been the worst since before Covid.

At least half of children hospitalised due to influenza, do not have pre-existing health conditions.

“What happened through Covid is we didn’t see flu for a couple of years and then it’s come back really bad. So we do know that we’re seeing a lot of kids being hospitalised for severe flu,” she said.

“There were a few years where the Government funded flu vaccines for all kids under 12. They’ve stopped that this year and it’s only funded for kids who have got high-risk medical conditions.

“But what we know is that at least half of our children being hospitalised don’t have background high-risk medical conditions.”

Turner said children living in poverty are bearing the brunt of New Zealand’s poor housing situation which means they are more vulnerable to sickness.

The wait times for GPs and the lack of a free flu vaccine are also making the situation worse.

“We know that children who come from backgrounds of poverty or deprivation are at least three times more likely to end up in hospital with lung infections,” she said.

“It’s a hard winter. Our housing situation is still really poor. Our families are having really challenging times accessing primary care with all the strains on the system and alongside that, there is no access for kids to get free flu vaccines.”

Children also tend to bring the virus home where it spreads to other members of their whānau and communities.

This winter, a record number of patients have turned up to Middlemore Hospital’s emergency department with higher presentations in children of respiratory-type illnesses, particularly influenza.

On July 2, the hospital’s ED treated 448 people, including 135 children.

“Some of our kids in New Zealand are particularly susceptible to respiratory illness and flu in particular, and those are who are living in overcrowded houses, damp, cold, mouldy houses, and there’s a lot of them out there,” Turner said.

“Also big families, with kids who are living with many people in the same house, the respiratory illnesses just go round and round in circles, these kids are at high risk of severe illness and they end up hospitalised.”

A study by the Immunisation Advisory Centre showed that when the flu jab was funded in 2022 for kids aged between 3 and 12, the amount getting it doubled compared to the year before.

And in 2023, when the free vaccine was extended to include 6-month-old babies, the number of infants aged between 6 and 12 months getting the vaccine tripled.