The Immunisation Advisory Centre provides training and support for COVID-19 vaccination in seven Pacific countries under the Polynesian Health Corridors project.
Working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Manatū Aorere and Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health, IMAC has operated a train-the-trainer model to ensure that a lot more vaccinators are available in the Pacific.
The Polynesian Health Corridors initiative, established in 2021, aims to strengthen links between health sectors in New Zealand and Polynesian countries and also Fiji (Melanesian). Funding has been provided to improve access to medicines, support vaccination, do outbreak planning, and build capability and systems to improve health outcomes.
Our role involves supporting vaccination training, including everything from cold chain systems to preparing and administering vaccinations for seven Pacific Island countries – namely, Niue, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Fiji.
New Zealand donated $26 million toward the global vaccine support for low and middle income economies through the COVAX AMC. That contributes to this programme.
The Immunisation Advisory Centre supports the Pacific teams to ensure the health workforce is equipped and able to administer COVID-19 vaccines. As at September 2023, the programme had trained more than 2000 Pacific vaccinators and supported the delivery of over 400,000 doses of paediatric and adult Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccines.
Read more about our work in the Pacific during the COVID-19 pandemic here.
If you are a vaccinator in one of the Polynesian Health Corridors countries you can do our courses. The first thing to do is to get in touch with Ellaine Rasch by email - ellaine.rasch@auckland.ac.nz
Our online courses are available to you, and you can get help from your closest in country trainers.
Resources can be found on the right-hand side of each specific vaccine page or within our factsheet resources.
