As of today, babies born in Hawke’s Bay will be eligible for funded vaccination against rotavirus gastroenteritis caused by rotavirus infection. PHARMAC has funded ROTATEQ® and added it to the Immunization Schedule from today. ROTATEQ is an oral vaccine that is squirted into the baby’s mouth. It helps prevent diarrhoea and vomiting caused by rotavirus infection. Director of Population Health, Dr. Caroline Mc Elnay says this is great news for babies and their parents given the vaccine’s reputation for reducing hospitalisations and work days lost by parents. In one of the largest vaccine trials in history, involving 68,000 infants, ROTATEQ is said to have reduced the rate of hospitalizations and emergency department visits by 94 percent, and reduced the number of guardian work days lost by 86 percent. It is already available in 100 countries, and over 109 million doses have been distributed worldwide. ROTATEQ should be given during the current routine immunization visits at six weeks, three months and five months of age. But initially babies are eligible for the newly funded vaccine if the first dose is administered before they are 15 weeks old. The final dose must be given before the baby is eight months old.

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