Travel-vaccines reclassification attempt fails

The Medicines Classification Committee has rejected a proposal to reclassify travel vaccines so they can be offered by pharmacies.

At its 26 February meeting, the MCC considered a submission from Green Cross Health asking the committee to allow pharmacists who complete the correct training to administer eight travel vaccines, currently given through travel medicine clinics and general practices.

These are: hepatitis A vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccine, hepatitis B and typhoid vaccine, Japanese encephalitis vaccine, poliomyelitis vaccine, typhoid vaccine and yellow fever vaccine.

Green Cross Health argued the reclassification would provide greater access to the vaccines as currently travellers are struggling to get appointments due to the health workforce crisis.

But the MCC considered the submission did not provide enough evidence proving the need and benefits of travel vaccine reclassification, and the risks associated, such as an increase in unnecessary vaccinations, were not adequately addressed. The MCC recommended the eight vaccines should remain prescription-only.

The MCC acknowledged the complexities surrounding a comprehensive travel medicine consultation and noted that patients would likely miss out on important medical advice should these services be fragmented.

The submission was opposed by the RNZCGP, the Pharmacy Council, the Immunisation Advisory Centre, the New Zealand Society of Travel Medicine, and Worldwise.

Those in support of the submission were PSNZ, the Pharmacy Guild, Te Manawa Taki Region National Public Health Service and GSK.