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With cases ticking up, a national ‘immunisation week’ hopes to encourage more New Zealanders to get their kids – and themselves – vaccinated for measles, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. 17 cases and counting New Zealand’s measles outbreak has grown to 17 confirmed cases as of Sunday, with infections now reported in Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington and Nelson. RNZ reports that the latest case, located in Auckland, is linked to an earlier overseas-acquired infection. Wellington remains the hardest-hit region with six cases, including a student at Wellington Girls’ College, where more than 900 people are considered close contacts and younger students have been told to stay home until mid-week. Auckland Grammar is also affected, after a person with measles was on campus on October 24. Acting prime minister David Seymour came under fire over the weekend for holding a media event at the school while testing was underway, a move Labour’s Ayesha Verrall, an infectious diseases specialist, said showed “poor judgement” and risked further spread. The vaccination push Measles is so contagious it requires a 95% immunisation rate for herd immunity. Data from June 2025 shows only 82% of two-year-olds are fully immunised with two doses of the vaccine, leaving at least one in five unprotected. The drive to get more people vaccinated, especially children, is quickly ramping up. A national immunisation week starts today and health minister Simeon Brown has confirmed to 1News that measles vaccines are now free for all people aged over one, including adults who are not eligible for funded healthcare. About 15,000 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) doses are typically used each month, but that figure is expected to rise sharply in response to the outbreak. Brown said 117,000 doses are currently in storage, with another 28,000 on the way; Pharmac says there is a “significant safety buffer” in supply. The Herald’s Jaime Lyth reports that Brown is also seeking advice on a potential MMR zero programme to allow infants under 12 months to receive early vaccination during outbreaks. It’s not a clear cut decision, director of public health Corina Grey said. “It does provide some protection – but the proportion is lower the younger the child is and they still need to get two doses after that.” What the experts say National public health service director Nick Chamberlain has called measles “one of the most contagious diseases on the planet”. If you are unvaccinated and exposed, there is “a 90% chance you’ll get it,” he said, adding that each infectious person typically spreads the virus to 12 to 18 others. University of Auckland public health expert Sir Collin Tukuitonga warned that one in three children who catch measles are hospitalised, and some suffer brain damage. Other experts contacted by the Science Media Centre emphasised that the MMR vaccine is safe, effective and provides lifelong protection after two doses. With the outbreak spreading, Chamberlain said the public health system is prepared for up to 100 new cases a week but hopes early immunisation will prevent that. What it’s like to have measles as an adult For The Spinoff, Emma Gleason spoke to her father about contracting measles during an outbreak in 2011. At 57, he was one of the oldest people in Auckland to have ever contracted the disease. At first, he thought he had the flu and tried to sleep it off. Days later, covered in a rash and running a 40-degree fever, he was diagnosed and told to isolate. “My memory of an entire week is basically gone… That was the worst period,” he recalled. “I became incoherent and totally debilitated.” Too contagious to visit the hospital, he stayed home, hallucinating and drifting in and out of consciousness until his fever finally broke. He suffered from nerve pain and sore eyes for a long time after, and was left with a profound belief in the importance of vaccinating for herd immunity. As he told his daughter: “Contracting measles as a child, let alone an adult, is not something you would wish on anyone.”
