How many doses has the Ministry of Health recommended?
With the FDA approving another bivalent booster dose - how many doses has the Ministry of Health in New Zealand recommended so far?
Although the bivalent booster was just released in New Zealand - it’s been available in the US since September 2022. The FDA has now approved a 2nd bivalent booster for those over 65 or in high risk group. That 2nd bivalent could be available to take just 4 months after your last booster. It now goes to the CDC for sign off.
If you fit the criteria and were playing along with taking your recommended doses in the US - that means you could be getting a 7th dose shortly.
But could the rationale for that 7th shot be related at all to stopping unused doses ending up in the trash as they expire? 1.4 million of standard doses were just tossed in New Zealand at the end of March.
Just this week on the 18th of April the FDA also withdrew previous versions of Moderna and Pfizer Covid vaccines in favor of the bivalent version. If you’re unvaccinated you ‘may get a dose’ - they now recommend 1 dose rather than 2. May. Not should. This seems to be part of the debated proposal out of the FDA to have annual Covid vaccinations similar to the flu vaccination.
Bivalent stats
Curiously I can’t yet find any explicit reporting on bivalent doses administered so far on the standard Covid vaccine data Ministry of Health page. Is it incorporated into other stats?
With a bit of background in mind - how many doses has the Ministry of Health recommended so far?
Primary series
We started with a staged rollout from March to December 2021 with the primary series of 2 doses - which as we know was marketed to everyone, everywhere and every time. No exceptions!
Additional dose
Available from 22 October 2021 it was recommended for people who meet the clinical criteria for immunosuppression. It could be given at least 8 weeks after the 2nd primary series dose but 4 weeks was okay if a health care professional thinks it best.
People needed a prescription for it and a consent form and it was expanded to those over 5 after 5 to 12 year olds became eligible for the primary series on January 17th 2022.
1st booster
This kicked off on 1 December 2021 and was available and recommended for anyone over 18 with a 6 month gap after the 2nd - or 3rd/additional dose if immunosuppressed.
The priority was people living in aged care who had reached that 6 month gap as they were in an earlier part of the vaccine rollout in 2021.
Then on the 5th of January 2022 it became a 4 month gap.
Then a month later on the 4th of February 2022 it became a 3 month gap.
The interval going down was publicly stated to help accelerate the rollout and provide greater protection against the Omicron variant of Covid-19
Over time 16 and 17 year olds and later 12 to 15 year olds could get it but needed a good reason to do so. (It was also recommended to wait 3 months after Covid infection.)
Novavax was available as a booster at least 6 months after completing the primary course of any Covid-19 vaccine used in New Zealand.
2nd booster
From the 28th of June 2022 - a 2nd booster was available to get 6 months after your 1st booster for the over 50s and some other at risk groups.
In November 2021 it was expanded to be available for Māori and Pacific people over 40 years old.
Bivalent booster
Widely available from the 1st of April 2023 - this is now the new (ie the 3rd) booster vaccine for anyone over 30 or who is in an at risk group who is also eligible for a booster of any type under the existing criteria. This proactive release by the Ministry of Health details a bit more.
How many doses so far?
If my math stacks up and you were following along with your doses and were immunosuppressed - you’re now up to taking your 6th dose within 18 months to 2 years (depending on when you first got the primary series - you might have been in an earlier phase of the rollout).
If you were not immunosuppressed but still scoring stamps on the vaccine loyalty card - you could be hitting 4 doses with the bivalent or if you are over 50 or for Māori and Pacific people over 40 - you could be at 5 doses with the bivalent within closer to 18 months than 2 years (as you might have been part of the general rollout later in 2021).
If I don’t see vaccine uptake data in a few weeks - I’m going to guess it’s low and will watch with interest if prior to the expiry (they last 12 months from manufacture date if unopened and stored correctly) we see another dose pushed…