HealthInfo Canterbury

COVID-19 vaccines

Ngā ārai mate korona

 

The Government has a comprehensive plan to access safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for all New Zealanders.

COVID-19 vaccine safety

Before vaccines are provided to the community, they must be approved by Medsafe. Medsafe is the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority and is part of the Ministry of Health. It's responsible for regulating medicines. It's Medsafe's role to assess the available data about a vaccine before approving its use in New Zealand.

For more information about vaccine safety see COVID-19 vaccines from The Immunisation Advisory Centre.

Getting COVID-19 vaccinations

Everyone aged 5 and over can book to get free COVID-19 vaccinations. See Book your COVID-19 vaccination.

Types of COVID-19 vaccine

Several types of vaccine technology have been used to develop COVID-19 vaccines. Currently, the Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccines are being used in New Zealand.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine's brand name is Comirnaty. It's available for people aged 5 and over. See Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for information about this vaccine.

The AstraZeneca vaccine's brand name is Vaxzevria. It's available for people aged 18 and over. See AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for information about this vaccine.

Novavax is also available for people aged 18 and over. See Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for information about this vaccine.

Vaccines for children

Children aged 5 and older can get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

You can read information about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 and older.

Vaccine booster doses

You can get a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine if you're 16 or over and it has been at least three months since your second vaccine dose.

For people with an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, a second booster dose is available six months after the first booster.

See COVID-19 vaccine booster dose for more details. You can check if you're eligible for a booster here.

Choosing to get vaccinated

It isn't mandatory to have the vaccine, which means you won't be made to have it. But getting vaccinated is one of the best ways you can protect not only yourself but members of your whānau/family and vulnerable members of the community from getting COVID-19.

What to expect when getting the vaccination

What to expect when getting the vaccination on the New Zealand Government COVID-19 website give you more information about getting COVID-19 vaccinations.

There's also information about COVID-19 vaccines in easy read format.

Getting true information about COVID-19 vaccines

There have been examples in New Zealand and overseas of people using the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out to spread misinformation and scam people into giving out their financial and personal details. The Government cyber security agency CERT NZ is working closely with other government agencies to try to stop these scams.

Key things to know are that:

• the vaccine is free
• you'll never be asked to pay for a place in a queue to get the vaccine
• information about the vaccine will come from the Ministry of Health and other trusted sources (see below)
• if you receive any emails out of the blue asking for financial and personal details. it's likely to be a scam
• the best way you can help stop these scams affecting New Zealanders is to report them to CERT NZ via its website.

See below for reliable and accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines.

  HealthInfo recommends the following videos

• Counties Manukau Health

  In these videos, health professionals share information about COVID-19 vaccinations in English, Arabic, Burmese, Cantonese, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese and New Zealand Sign Language.

  HealthInfo recommends the following pages

• Canterbury and West Coast Vaccination roll-out

  Information about the vaccination roll-out in Canterbury and the West Coast. It includes the booklet Te Rongoā Ārai Mate Korona that's intended to answer any questions the Māori community has about the vaccination and to explain the vaccination process.

• Immunisation Advisory Centre – COVID-19 vaccines

  Frequently asked questions and resources about the COVID-19 immunisation programme in New Zealand.

• Ministry of Health
  • COVID-19: Vaccines

    Detailed information about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

  • COVID-19: Information for pregnant women, and those who have recently given birth

    Information on maternity care while you're pregnant and following the birth of your baby during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• New Zealand Government COVID-19 website – COVID-19 vaccines

  The latest updates about the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out.

• World Health Organization – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Vaccines

  Questions and answers about COVID-19 vaccines.

On the next page: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Content shared between HealthInfo Canterbury, KidsHealth and Health Navigator NZ as part of a National Health Content Hub collaborative. Last reviewed February 2022. Last updated September 2022.

Sources

Page reference: 846244

Review key: HICOV-710714