News Ngā karere

Invasive group A streptococcal infection (iGAS) will become a ‘notifiable’ disease on 1 October 2024. In addition, Cabinet has now also removed COVID-19 from the list of quarantinable infectious diseases.

New research shows the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted New Zealanders’ attitudes to infectious diseases, with a greater willingness to protect themselves and an expectation that others will act to prevent the spread of disease.

The Long COVID Expert Group was established in 2022 to assess the evidence on long COVID and apply it to the Aotearoa | New Zealand context, and to oversee clinical practice guidelines produced that year.

A vaccine to combat the newer strains of COVID-19 has been approved and will be available to New Zealanders in time for winter 2024.

As Kiwis prepare for Christmas, public health officials are recommending that people who are more likely to experience severe COVID-19, such as Māori and Pacific people aged 50 and over, as well as everyone aged 65 and older, get a booster vaccine before the holidays.

The Institute of Environmental Science and Research has detected the COVID-19 subvariant BA.2.86 in Aotearoa New Zealand for the first time in wastewater samples taken earlier this month.

Manatū Hauora – the Ministry of Health is today publishing the Aotearoa New Zealand Strategic Framework for Managing COVID-19 which sets out how the Government will continue to protect New Zealanders from the impacts of the virus.

The Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora is today releasing a report that seeks to better understand how the Government’s COVID-19 response affected Māori, Pacific Peoples and disabled people.

Manatū Hauora – the Ministry of Health is today publishing a review of the 2022 COVID-19 winter surge package and which has underpinned this year’s planning.

The Ministry has agreed that the COVID-19 prevalence surveys should not advance in their proposed current format.

From tomorrow a version of the paediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be available for children aged six months to four years who are at higher risk of severe disease if they were to catch COVID-19.

New research into the impacts of COVID-19

The XBB.1.5 variant of COVID-19, also known as Kraken, has been detected by whole genome sequencing in New Zealand.

Following provisional approval by Medsafe, the Director-General of Health has recommended, and Ministers have approved, the use of the paediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to four years who are at higher risk of severe disease if they were to catch COVID-19.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board (the Board) has notified Te Whatu Ora of a fourth death in New Zealand in which a link to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) could not be excluded.