Childhood Immunisation
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Childhood Immunisation
The National Immunisation Register (NIR)
The National Immunisation Register (NIR) for Otago sits under Public Health South. It is a computerised information system that holds the immunisation details of your child. The NIR will help you and your health provider, such as your family doctor, to keep a record of your child’s immunisations.
How will the NIR help my child?
Your family doctor or practice nurse will use the Register to check which immunisations your child has been given. This will help to make sure that your child receives all the appropriate immunisations at the recommended ages.
Children may visit different health care providers for their health care. The NIR will make sure that information about your child’s immunisations is available even if they receive health services in another part of the country (if you shift to another area or to another doctor).
Outreach Immunisation Service
Immunisation is one of the free Well Child Tamariki Ora Programme services aimed at improving and protecting your child’s health. Immunisation can protect your child from ten serious diseases. The vaccines, which are given by injection, stimulate the body to make antibodies which will protect your child. Your child will need all the doses of vaccine on the Immunisation Schedule to be fully protected against all ten diseases.
If it is difficult for families to get to the GP for immunisations any service working with the family can refer them to Public Health South’s Outreach Immunisation Service. The Outreach Immunisation Service (OIS) has two registered nurses who are both independent vaccinators. Upon referral the OIS team try to facilitate linkages back to the doctor and where it is not possible for the family to take the child to the doctor we can offer vaccinations, either in the home, school or kohanga reo.
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