Te Whatu Ora National Imms Programme Feedback Te Whatu Ora National Imms Programme had a Quality Stand Up (hui) last week looking at some of the current issues with Covid vaccination. Below is a summary of the issues. Vaccinator Authorisation Renewal Please ensure that all of your vaccinators know when their authorisation is due for renewal and that they start the process early. Recently there have been some instances of vaccinators continuing to vaccinate while their authorisation had expired. Errors Common errors occurring with Covid vaccinations: • • •
Vaccination given without a prescription when one is required Administering expired vaccine Wrong vaccine given for age
So please ensure that you: • •
Read the latest Ops Guidelines and are familiar with which vaccinations need a prescription Ensure that two people check the expiry date of a vaccine – check the expiry on the packet not the vial
Vials without strength on them Some Pfizer vials are coming through without a strength on them. However, it will be on the box. This is only from certain manufacturers. It is important that you keep the vials with the box that they arrived in. Te Whatu Ora National Immunisation Programme leads confirm that Pharmac has approved the use of vaccine where there is no strength on the vial. Monkey Pox (MPX) The first vaccine is expected into NZ sometime in December. IMAC will be doing the training for MPX. There will be very specific eligibility criteria for receiving this vaccine as well as a criteria for who can train to give the MPX vaccine. Cold Chain Review