A mother says health authorities should be more upfront with parents, after she was told she could take her children for second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in half the official timeframe.
(File image) Photo: 123rf
Five to 11 year olds began being vaccinated in January, with an eight-week gap between the two doses unless a child has medical reasons for a quicker schedule.
But an Auckland mother-of-two said when she asked her GP about getting a second dose early - with no medical grounds - he told her she should go to a pharmacy.
She said no-one asked about her decision and they were fully vaccinated after a four-week gap.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said the government needed to be transparent that they were not enforcing the eight-week rule, and detailed the decision she came to.
"Three weeks after my children, who are in normal health with no immune conditions, had their first dose, I asked our GP about how to get a second dose 'early'. He said 'no, you don't have to wait eight weeks, you can get it, just book in with one of the pharmacies doing the vaccines'.
"The official booking system only lets you book eight weeks apart, but if you take any child to a place doing the vaccines then they will do it as long as it has been three weeks. And he was right, I booked in with the local pharmacy and the kids had it done there - no-one asked about my decision or gave me any advice that waiting was better.
"The Ministry of Health webpage still makes it sound like it is not possible to shorten the gap between vaccines for children unless they have serious medical conditions. Given the current outbreak, this will mean that by the time their child is fully protected - 10 weeks after the first vaccine has been given - they will have already caught Covid and spread it around the household."
Last week, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said experts had looked again at whether a shorter spacing was justified, and decided that it was not.
"Children, because of their much more attuned immune systems, have a much starker response to that first dose, and then also a bigger gap is better for long-term immunity and for reducing the likelihood of some of those rare side effects," he said.
But the mother said she was happy with her decision, particularly because masks were not always worn by her year 4 daughter's classmates.
"I'm glad that I had my kids fully vaccinated before this outbreak took off. I wish that the government was being more transparent and giving parents the full information to make an informed decision about what is best for their family as this would result in more of my children's classmates being fully vaccinated.
"Transmission at schools will climb now that children will continue to attend even when their classmates go off with Covid - the previous need for the rest of the class to go off as close contacts after one tested positive was a great 'buffer' to prevent widespread transmission across a school. It reflected the reality that children don't social distance in the same way that adults do.
"The government is not being very transparent about this issue and is not communicating clearly with parents. I have spoken to other parents at the school gate and most don't realise there is no rule for an eight-week delay. This lack of information is in effect preventing parents who may wish to get the second vaccine sooner from doing so."
Ministry of Education figures show 84 percent of schools in Auckland have had cases over the past 10 days and in the past two days there have been a total of 3286 student infections in the city.
Health Ministry figures show 5746 of children under 12 have had a second Covid-19 vaccine dose so far, but it is not known how many of those are because of immunity problems or other health conditions.
Ministry of Health responds
The ministry responded that its guidelines say the interval can be shortened to a minimum of 21 days if needed, for example if a child is starting treatment with immunosuppressants. It said in a statement that the eight-week gap is recommended, but did not respond to questions about whether a medical reason, or written doctor's note, is needed to request an earlier vaccination.
"While the manufacturer recommends having the paediatric Pfizer vaccine in two doses, three weeks apart, research conducted in adults into extending the dosing interval (eg. to eight weeks or longer), has shown that longer intervals between the first and second Pfizer dose can lead to improved vaccine effectiveness, and potentially a longer duration of protection compared with the standard interval.
"While extended dosing intervals have not yet been studied in children, it is expected that similar effects would be observed to those after extended dosing intervals in adults, such as improved immunogenicity and the potential for a lower risk of serious effects."
The statement said an eight-week interval between doses for 5 to 11-year-olds is consistent with other international advisory groups.
"A longer interval between doses would also allow more time to continue monitoring international safety data as it emerges."
The vaccine had been through clinical trials in children of the same age group and side effects that were reported were mild and short-lived, the spokesperson said. However, because myocarditis and pericarditis were very rare but serious side effects of the Pfizer vaccine, research in adults showed an extended dosing interval might also reduce those risks.
The Covid-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board (CV-ISMB) and Medsafe were monitoring safety data, including for these rare side effects, from the rollout of programmes to 5 to 11-year-old children in other countries.
In relation to whether parents could ask for a shorter timeframe, the ministry did not answer questions on whether there is a government policy that allows that to happen, nor if the eight-week period was being enforced by the ministry, referring questions to the Immunisation Advisory Centre.
"The Ministry of Health does not comment on individual circumstances or clinical care, but parents or caregivers should talk to their healthcare professional if they have any questions or concerns about their child's vaccination."
People can also call the Covid Vaccination Healthline - 0800 28 29 26 - or visit health.govt.nz/CovidVaccineKids, Karawhiua, Ministry for Pacific Peoples and Unite against COVID-19 for more information and research.