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The Spinoff
2 days ago
- Health
- The Spinoff
When immunisation is a health target, why isn't the flu vaccine free for kids?
Although it's a common illness, the flu can be very serious – even in healthy and active young people. Many adults can access the vaccine for free, or have it reimbursed by their employer. Why don't we offer the same for pēpi and tamariki? On a Saturday in the July school holidays, Katie Iti died at Hutt Hospital from complications of Influenza B. Katie was 15 years old, in year 10 at Naenae College and loved drag racing. Speaking to Radio New Zealand, her dad Shayne described Katie as a 'sister to everyone' in the close-knit drag racing community. He said her flu symptoms were routine – body aches, a runny nose and a cough. He also urged whānau to get vaccinated against the flu. Immunisation is a health target and has been in the sights of the coalition government since the beginning of the term. The ink was drying on the coalition agreement in December 2023 when then minister of health Shane Reti announced $50 million to help Māori health providers lift immunisation rates. He noted that low immunisation rates put pēpi and tamariki at particular risk of life-threatening illnesses. 'It protects them from serious but preventable disease and reduces the risk of hospitalisation or worse – something that no parent wants to face.' In Aotearoa, the National Immunisation Schedule details the vaccines babies and children receive through infancy and childhood, and boosters available for adults. The schedule includes vaccines against serious infectious and life-threatening illnesses such as pneumococcal disease, diphtheria and measles. Schedule immunisations and their administration are free, regardless of visa or citizenship status, given the benefits of high herd immunity within populations. Despite being listed on the schedule and recommended annually for anyone aged over six months, the flu vaccine is less accessible. The flu vaccine is not free for babies and children unless they meet certain criteria for being at higher risk of serious illness. This includes having a long-term health condition like asthma, diabetes or a heart condition, or having been hospitalised previously for a respiratory illness like pneumonia, bronchiolitis or Covid-19. There are clear and obvious benefits to providing free vaccines to those most at risk. However, there are also clear and obvious benefits to providing a vaccine to anyone who wants it, if vaccination can prevent serious and life-threatening complications should a person contract an infection. The flu vaccine falls into this category. It is recommended by the immunisation schedule and strongly supported by clinical evidence. Many adults can access it for free, or have it reimbursed by their employer. Why don't we offer the same for pēpi and tamariki? For a brief two-year period recently – we did. Uptake of the flu vaccine for under-fives tripled once universal funding was introduced in 2022. Writing in May 2024, once the funding was cut, authors Samantha Marsh, Janine Paynter, Peter McInytre and Rajneeta Saraf noted: 'Focusing flu vaccination funding only on those at the highest risk is a step backwards for New Zealand and will likely reduce uptake. In contrast, Australia has funded flu vaccines for all children aged six months to five years since 2019.' Marsh et al go on to cite a report from the Child and Youth Epidemiology Service that influenza accounted for 56% of all preventable hospitalisations in children in Aotearoa – more than varicella, measles, whooping cough and meningococcal disease combined. Knowing that influenza can be serious, I had decided my son should receive the flu vaccine prior to starting daycare earlier this year. I had thought we could receive our shots at the same time from our local pharmacy – perhaps the start of an annual tradition. I was aware he would require two doses, four weeks apart, as it was his first flu vaccine. I wasn't aware that our local pharmacy didn't have a vaccinator who could vaccinate a baby under one, meaning we would have to make an appointment with the GP nurse instead. I also wasn't aware that each dose of the vaccine would cost $45. The Kids Health website advises each shot could be between $25 and $45, depending on the clinic – similar to the price for an adult, but $50-$90 in total if it is your child's first vaccine. Multiple children requiring two initial doses would quickly add up – putting this very basic protective health measure out of reach for many whānau. Although it is a common illness, the flu can be very serious, requiring hospitalisation, and in rare and tragic cases, cause death – even in healthy and active young people. If a vaccine is clinically sound, evidence-based, and recommended by the Ministry of Health in the National Immunisation Schedule – such as in the case of the influenza vaccine – it should be free for everyone, especially pēpi and tamariki.
RNZ News
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Drag racing-loving teen Katie Iti dies from flu complications
Katie Iti's passion was drag racing. Photo: Supplied The father of a Lower Hutt teenager who died in hospital with flu symptoms says she had only been unwell for a few days. Shayne Iti said his 15-year-old daughter Katie Margaret Iti died on Saturday in Hutt Hospital from complications of influenza B. "She fell ill probably Tuesday last week and just was getting slightly worse over the few days - we were just monitoring her at home," he said. "And then I woke up early Saturday morning to hear her moaning and groaning and I was like 'I can't see my baby like this anymore, let's go to the hospital'." Iti said Katie was seen by a cardiologist and a surgeon, and tests found fluid around her heart. He thought she appeared to improve over the day and another scan confirmed the fluid had not increased. But 13 hours after her arrival, Katie suddenly deteriorated and her heart stopped, Iti said. "She was gone. I was with her right up until the end." Iti said Katie's passion was drag racing and she had completed her first season of racing her own car. She became interested in the motorsport after she and Iti began helping his boss build a drag racing car. After that Katie was hooked, going to 'the drags' as often as she could, an enthusiasm also supported by mum Jamie Halse. "She started getting quite friendly with all the junior drag racers because it's quite big - the scene," Iti said. "She always wanted her own car and started jumping into people's cars and sitting in them and dreaming about having one, one day." When it became known that Katie wanted to 'go down the strip', 2022 New Zealand Super Street Champion Cindy Mendoza took her for the ride. "It spiralled on from there because she wanted to do it herself," Iti said. "I used to say to her 'No, you can't have one, we can't really afford it' but then she'd go round the pits talking to all the other adults telling them to 'Go tell my Dad to get me a drag car' and, of course, everyone was always in my ear about getting her a car so we made it happen." Iti taught Katie to drive the manuel racing car when she was 14, starting off on grass and then in a carpark. Once she mastered it, the then-Year 10 Naenae College student competed in her first race in October, racing the entire season. Katie's car. Photo: Supplied Though Katie had no siblings, Iti described her as "a sister to everyone" and said the drag racing community had been hard hit by her death. "They're all struggling. Everyone's trying to lean against each other just 'cos they're all struggling," he said. "Everyone's in complete disbelief. I'm still in disbelief. I'm still expecting her to jump out and give me a fright. "We can't even stay in our own house at the moment because it just feels so empty." Iti said the drag racing community would take cars to Katie's funeral in Wainuiomata on Thursday and there would be a tribute to the teen's love of the sport. Online tributes had been flowing with descriptions of Katie as a "beautiful soul" who was always happy, smiling, respectful, fun and entertaining. A girl with a passion for drag racing and life, one person wrote. "In life and in our sport you meet lots of different people , some leave a lasting memory when they are gone and Katie Iti was one of those," another person wrote on the Wild Bunch New Zealand Facebook page. "Her raw passion and enthusiasm was genuine and unwavering and her love of our sport and those in it knew no bounds. "Personally thank you Katie for all the messages and gifts and for just being yourself in amongst a sea of testosterone and competitiveness you proved the sport is so much more than that..." Online tributes had been flowing with descriptions of Katie as a "beautiful soul" who was always happy, smiling, respectful, fun and entertaining. Photo: Supplied Iti said some online reports that Katie had died in a drag racing event were incorrect. "The season's over. It has been for quite some time." He said Katie had the best safety equipment possible and they had never had any incidents while racing. Iti said Katie's driving partner Azaliya would continue her legacy, and keep racing the number 109 car. Health New Zealand said without a privacy waiver it could not confirm if Katie's death was referred to the Coroner or if Hutt Hospital was conducting a review. Iti said Katie's initial symptoms appeared to be routine - an achy body, runny nose, and cough - and his message to other families was to get vaccinated. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
