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The Immunisation Advisory Centre has been providing training and support for COVID 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 ultimately a lot more vaccinators are available in the Pacific.
The Polynesian Health Corridors initiative 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, 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 ready to administer Comirnaty. As at September 2022 the programme had trained over 850 vaccinators and supported the delivery of over 350,000 doses of paediatric and adult Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccines.
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 our COVID Pacific Islands Programme Manager, Moelagi Leilani Jackson: leilani.jackson@auckland.ac.nz.
Our online courses are available to you, and you can get help from your closest in country trainers.
RGON PG DIP TERTIARY TEACHING PG DIP MANAGEMENT PG DIP MANAGEMENT AD VACCINOLOGY
Loretta Roberts is the National Director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC), a role she has held for the past year. Previously to this Loretta has worked for the past 20 years with IMAC, her most recent role as National Manager for seven years.
Loretta has an extensive background in nursing, education, and maternal-child health, having practiced across a number of locations in Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Aotearoa, New Zealand. She has used her organisational experience, clinical knowledge, and management skills to support and lead the IMAC team to deliver their wide range of immunisation services.
If you have questions about how IMAC could support the vaccinator workforce and your organisation, or any contractual inquiries, please contact Loretta directly.
