Immunisation catch-up in New Zealand: missed doses and moving country

Late is not too late

This page is about doses that were missed, delayed, or given somewhere else. It is not the routine schedule, and if your child is simply due their next vaccine at the usual age, that is an ordinary appointment.

Health New Zealand's position on missed doses is reassuring: if you have missed a vaccination, it is okay, and tamariki can catch up for free on most vaccinations. An interrupted course is resumed rather than restarted, so doses already given are not wasted.

What is free, and to what age

Health New Zealand states that catch-up immunisations are free for all tamariki under 18 years old. That is a broad entitlement and it covers most of the childhood schedule.

Eligible adults aged 18 and over can also catch up free on a defined list, which Health New Zealand gives as tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, MMR, HPV and COVID-19. Two of those carry specific conditions worth knowing if you are a parent rather than a child: MMR is free for people born from 1969 onwards who do not have two recorded doses, and HPV vaccination is free until age 26.

That MMR provision matters more than it looks. Measles outbreaks in New Zealand have repeatedly involved adults with one dose or no record, and a parent with an incomplete MMR history is a risk to a newborn who is too young to be vaccinated.

The one vaccine you cannot catch up

Rotavirus is the exception, and the cut-offs are absolute rather than advisory. Health New Zealand states that the first dose of the rotavirus vaccine must be given before your baby turns 15 weeks old, and the second dose before they are 25 weeks old.

Miss those windows and the vaccine is not offered later. This is a safety limit rather than an administrative one, which is why it is the single strongest argument for keeping the six-week appointment even in a chaotic first two months.

How to find out what your child has actually had

New Zealand keeps a national immunisation record, the Aotearoa Immunisation Register, which lets health staff see what you have been immunised against. As a parent you have three practical routes to check.

The first is your Well Child Tamariki Ora My Health Book, previously called the Plunket book, which is the paper record you were given. The second is My Health Record, which Health New Zealand says you can view for yourself and for children under 12. The third is simply to phone your doctor, nurse or healthcare provider and ask them to check.

If those three disagree, the register is what a vaccinator will act on, so getting a missing dose recorded is as important as getting the dose itself.

Moving to New Zealand with a child

Bring every record you have, in whatever language it is in. Health New Zealand's guidance is to provide records from previous healthcare providers, and says that where records are not available, your vaccinator will discuss an appropriate catch-up plan.

Two things routinely surprise families arriving from overseas. First, a child with a complete record in their previous country may still have genuine gaps here, because national schedules use different vaccines and different timings. Second, a dose given below the minimum age used in New Zealand may not count, which is a clinical judgement your vaccinator makes rather than a bureaucratic one.

None of that means starting again. It means one appointment to review the record and build a plan, followed by however many visits the plan needs.

Moving within New Zealand

Because the register is national rather than regional, moving between towns does not orphan your child's record in the way that moving between provinces does in some other countries. Enrolling your child with a general practice in the new area is what connects them to a provider who will act on that record and send reminders.

Who gives catch-up vaccines

Catch-up doses are given by general practices, and in many areas by other vaccinating services including some pharmacies and outreach immunisation services. Outreach services exist specifically for families who are hard to reach or who have fallen a long way behind, and asking about them is worth doing if getting to a clinic is the actual barrier.

If your child is very behind, expect a plan rather than a single visit. Vaccines have minimum intervals between doses, so a catch-up course is spread over weeks or months, and the plan is designed to get the most important protection in first.

What to bring, and what to ask

Bring any record you hold, including overseas documents, and your child's NHI number if you know it. Ask for the plan in writing, ask which doses are being given today and which are being deferred, and ask when the next appointment should be. Ask, too, whether the doses are being recorded on the Aotearoa Immunisation Register, because that is what future providers will see.

Where to get help

Contact your general practice or your Well Child provider to review your child's record and arrange catch-up doses. Check the Well Child Tamariki Ora My Health Book or My Health Record first if you want to know where the gaps are before you ring. Health New Zealand publishes the national immunisation schedule and the current rules on catching up on missed immunisations, including which adult catch-ups are funded.