Jessie Day plans to get her five-month-old son vaccinated early against measles at a cost of more than $200. Photo: SUPPLIED
Worried parents are questioning why young babies could be vaccinated if they were travelling overseas - but not if they are staying in Wellington, where hundreds of people have been exposed to the virus.
Health New Zealand says the outbreak has not yet reached the point where babies under the age of one need to be immunised early.
Lower Hutt mother Jessie Day's young son is five-months-old - that is seven months too young for his first scheduled measles mumps and rubella shot, but not too young to get measles.
"I rang up because I was worried obviously about the outbreak and they were happy to book me in. Then they called back later in the day to say it was going to cost $260 to get the vaccine, but it could be done."
Despite the cost, she planned to get it done.
"I want him protected against this disease which could potentially cost him his life."
However, Day said it was a lot of money for some families, and in her opinion the Government should be making it free to babies under 12 months.
"And we need to do it sooner rather than later because it takes 10 days for the symptoms to show, and in 10 days time we're going to have a lot more people in our community with measles."
However, another mother (whom RNZ has agreed not to name) said some practices were declining to vaccinate babies under a year old.
Her GP clinic turned her down when she tried to book in her seven-month-old, saying it was not possible unless she was planning to travel or the Ministry gave a directive.
"I managed to make a casual appointment at another clinic but they cancelled it an hour before. The nurse was sympathetic but said the advice was they could not provide it until there was more of an outbreak."
She said it seemed "a tad short-sighted" that six month olds travelling overseas could get a vaccine on request but those living in Wellington could not.
"The concern for us is we catch the bus and train all the time, which has school kids on it."
Too early for "Dose Zero" - Health NZ
Official advice is that four to 11 month-olds can get an extra dose of the vaccine - known as "dose zero" - if they have been exposed to an infectious case or if there is an outbreak.
Health NZ defines an outbreak of measles as two or more epidemiologically-linked cases.
However, its principal clinical advisor on immunisation, Caroline Hart, a paediatrician, said the threshold for triggering dose zero was "variable".
In areas with high immunisation rates babies were protected by herd immunity.
"But if we go into more rural areas and certain areas where there's low coverage rates for MMR (and in New Zealand it's only 40 or 50% in some areas) there's no sufficient herd immunity to protect those infants.
"So that would be an area where we might look at [early immunisation] if there's evidence of community spread."
That would be where public health officials did not know where the measles was coming from, which was not the case yet, she said.
It was always up to the regional medical officer of health to make the call on whether to immunise young babies.
"When you have a vaccination you always have to balance risk and benefit. And at this point in time, the risk for young infants getting measles is not sufficient for us to say 'yes, get the MMR vaccine'."
Babies were the most vulnerable to getting very sick from measles or suffering complications, Dr Hart said.
"So parents, grandparents, anyone who's around a child who's under 12 months, make sure they're vaccinated to protect that child."
Children who received the MMR vaccine before the age of one still needed another two doses later to have long-lasting immunity against measles.
Many missing vaccines now - GPs
Tauranga family doctor Luke Bradford, president of the College of GPs, said many communities were already struggling to get children immunised on time due to vaccine scepticism.
"Adding another one is always a bit of a balancing act with people. So I think it's important to make sure we get that balance correct, and not wait too long of course.
"But we don't want to necessarily get to the point where we're causing more vaccine hesitancy than achieving success."
About half a million New Zealanders are susceptible to measles because of missed vaccinations, mainly young adults or older teenagers and preschoolers.
Immunisation against measles is free to everyone between 1 and 18, and adults who are eligible for funded healthcare in New Zealand.
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