Photo: Stuff / Denise Piper
Health New Zealand says vaccination rates for whooping cough are approaching 60 percent, but Māori and Pasifika communities still lag behind.
Officials declared the epidemic just over three weeks ago, as cases spiked to levels not seen since 2018.
Papatoetoe midwife Judith Johnston-Niuelua from Niu Life Midwives - one of the organisations delivering the Counties Manukau Maternal and Immunisation programme - criticised Te Whatu Ora's whooping cough awareness campaign, as many are not watching television or listening to the radio.
Health New Zealand Public Health Service national director Dr Nick Chamberlain acknowledged her concerns, but said the initiative spreads wider than that.
"Our campaign, I believe is reasonably successful," he told Morning Report.
"Judith is right, it's not the only answer, but we are using multiple channels, not just radio and TV, but digital channels as well, and we've had 7 million views on digital channels.
"We need to broaden much as possible the opportunities, but we have seen a really significant increase in immunisation uptake,,,which is the adult Pertussis vaccine which we provide to pregnant women.
"We've seen it increase from about a 1000 per week to 2000 per week."
Health New Zealand knocked back a bid for slightly more than $560,000 a year to keep the The Counties Manukau Maternal and Immunisation programme going, after money from the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund ran out.
A limited service continues at three sites - including Niu Life - where public health nurses hold two clinics a week, between 9am and 2pm, by appointment only.
Johnston-Niuelua said unfortunately that did not work for many families, but Dr Chamberlain said they are now delivering 5000 vaccines in pharmacies alone, instead of just 2000 in September, which he believes is an example of women are accessing multiple opportunities.
Dr Chamberlain has sympathy for the services that were previously funded through Covid.
"At the time I started in my role, there were $3 billion going into Covid health funding, and now has less than $50 million purely for Covid services.
"The public understand we had to see that reduction, it's a 60th of what we had when we started.
"There isn't money around at that level, but we are investing heavily into Pacific providers."
Dr Chamberlain said they are looking at how they can make sure all midwives can vaccinate, and how best to support them.
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