Maxwell Health Urges 2018 Flu Vaccine Uptake

Maxwell Health Urges 2018 Flu Vaccine Uptake

Maxwell Health, one of the country’s leading workplace vaccination providers, is urging companies to take advantage of its earlier access to the publicly funded influenza vaccine in New Zealand for the 2018 winter flu season.

The approved vaccine has been updated to include protection against several flu viruses circulating globally and is currently available now from Maxwell Health.

“Maxwell Health has secured a supply of the approved vaccine before a number of medical centres. We invite businesses who wish to get their staff immunised before the flu season starts in earnest to contact us as soon as possible to ensure we can deliver a comprehensive vaccination service,” company director Jo Maxwell, NZRCpN, said.
The Immunisation Advisory announced on February 28, 2018, the so-called ‘Aussie Flu’ strain (H3N2) will also be included as part of the new ‘quadrivalent’ vaccine for New Zealand.

Associate Professor Nikki Turner, director, Immunisation Advisory Centre; Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Auckland said:

“There was a flu strain of Type A flu (AH3N2) that we did see in the New Zealand season last year, though we fortunately still had quite a mild flu season. However, its effect was more prominent in Australia which had a very bad season and the same strain has been seen widely this Northern Hemisphere winter, creating a very heavy flu season.

The vaccine did not have a good match to that strain and it looks like vaccine effectiveness in the northern hemisphere has either been mediocre or not effective at all for certain groups with this strain.

“The vaccines arriving in New Zealand for our winter season have a new updated AH3N2 strain in them, which is a better match and we hope that will give better effectiveness. The government-subsidised vaccines for this season also are quadrivalent (two A strains and two B strains), which should give better protection than the traditional trivalent that have only one B strain in them.”

Maxwell Health has 15 years experience in workplace vaccinations and was one of the first health service providers to be certified to vaccinate on-site without a doctor present.
• The greater the percentage of employees vaccinated, the better the protection to your workplace and staff.
• Early vaccination is critical to ensure your staff are protected before the flu arrives.
• All our vaccinators are registered nurses and authorised by the Medical Officer of Health.
• Maxwell Health is Cold Chain Accredited.

For more information on the influenza vaccine and our services please view our FAQ page at www.maxwellhealth.co.nz or contact us directly.

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