Minister defends vaccine's safety

The Health Ministry has confidence in the safety of its meningococcal vaccination despite its rejection by Norway, Health Minister Annette King said yesterday.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters had questioned the safety of the MeNZB vaccine produced by the Chiron Corporation of California.

The vaccine was produced specifically to combat the strain of meningococcal B bacterium that hit New Zealand in 1981 and has been at epidemic levels for the past 13 years.

Mr Peters told Parliament that 80 per cent of those given the vaccination in a New Zealand trial had a reaction, and no placebo tests were conducted.

In Norway, an extensive trial of the parent vaccine was conducted on 180,000 adolescents, he said. Norway "decided against the use of this vaccine after researchers concluded it wasn't effective enough to justify a national campaign".

But Ms King said she was confident the vaccine was safe. A report by the Independent Safety Monitoring Board found no concerning issues.

The report, released last week, considered safety data for the first two months of a national immunisation programme beginning in June, and monitored the administration of more than 140,000 doses.

"The clinical trials carried out in this test were up to international standards," Ms King said.

The ministry aims to vaccinate 90 per cent of the 1.1 million New Zealanders aged under 20.

- NZPA