Published: 3 July 2022
Safety Information
Spontaneous reports: Seasonal influenza vaccination 2022
This page provides information on the number of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) reports received for influenza vaccines.
- New reporting format
- Influenza vaccines administered and number of AEFI reports
- Serious reports
- Reports by ethnicity and age
- AEFIs reported
- Who is reporting?
- Definitions
- More information
New reporting format
We have a new reporting format for 2022, including reporting on ethnicity and age distribution. We can also report on the number of vaccines administered for 2021 and 2022 (instead of doses distributed as in previous reports). Therefore, this report includes data for 2021 and 2022.
Influenza vaccines administered and number of AEFI reports
The 2022 Influenza Immunisation Programme started on 1 April 2022. There were four approved quadrivalent vaccines, two of which were funded for eligible people:
- Afluria Quad for children and adults aged from 3 years (funded)
- Afluria Quad Junior for children aged under 3 years, ie, 6–35 months (funded)
- Fluad Quad for adults aged 65 years or older
- Fluquadri for children and adults 6 months of age and older.
More than 1.2 million doses of influenza vaccine were administered in 2022 (Table 1).
The Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM) received 221 AEFI reports for influenza vaccines in 2022 (Table 1), significantly less than the number of reports in 2021. However, the COVID-19 Immunisation Programme was rolled out in 2021 and may have raised awareness of reporting AEFIs in that year.
Table 1: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines, vaccine doses administered and estimated reporting rates, 2021 to 2022
| 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of reportsa | 425 | 221 |
| Influenza doses administeredb | 912,054 | 1,287,194 |
| Estimated reporting rate per 100,000 doses administered | 46.6 | 17.2 |
- Source: Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring
- Source: Te Whatu Ora, Flu vaccinations Qlik application, data extracted 19 June 2023.
Serious reports
A serious AEFI is defined as any reaction that results in death or is life-threatening, causes or prolongs hospitalisation, results in persistent or significant disability/incapacity, is a congenital abnormality or is a medically important event.
There were fewer serious reports received in 2022 compared to 2021 (Table 2).
Table 2: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines, number and percentage of non-serious and serious reports, 2021 to 2022
| Report type | 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | |
| Non-serious | 393 | 92.5 | 210 | 95.0 |
| Serious | 32 | 7.5 | 11 | 5.0 |
Reports by ethnicity and age
Reports by ethnicity and age are shown in Tables 3 and 4, respectively.
Table 3: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines by ethnicity, 2021 to 2022
| Ethnicity | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Māori | 39 | 15 |
| Pacific peoples | 10 | 9 |
| Asian | 20 | 21 |
| European or Other | 352 | 171 |
| Unknown | 4 | 5 |
| Total | 425 | 221 |
Table 4: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines by age band, 2021 to 2022
| Age band | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 years | 4 | 10 |
| 3 to 11 years | 5 | 16 |
| 12 to 17 years | 7 | 3 |
| 18 to 44 years | 77 | 57 |
| 45 to 64 years | 116 | 61 |
| 65 to 74 years | 125 | 37 |
| 75 years and older | 91 | 37 |
| Total | 425 | 221 |
AEFIs reported
The most commonly reported AEFIs in 2021 and 2022 were injection site inflammation, injection site pain, arm pain and dizziness (Tables 5 and 6).
Table 5: Top 10 most frequently reported AEFIs for influenza vaccines, 2021
| AEFI | No. of reports |
|---|---|
| Injection site inflammation | 65 |
| Injection site pain | 63 |
| Pain in extremity (arm or leg pain) | 62 |
| Dizziness | 36 |
| Nausea | 36 |
| Arthralgia (joint pain) | 35 |
| Headache | 29 |
| Pyrexia (fever) | 26 |
| Injection site swelling | 22 |
| Injection site erythema (redness) | 20 |
Table 6: Top 10 most frequently reported AEFIs for influenza vaccines, 2022
| AEFI | No. of reports |
|---|---|
| Injection site inflammation | 37 |
| Injection site pain | 36 |
| Pain in extremity (arm or leg pain) | 20 |
| Dizziness | 15 |
| Headache | 14 |
| Paraesthesia (abnormal sensation, eg, 'pins and needles') | 13 |
| Nausea | 12 |
| Pyrexia (fever) | 12 |
| Arthralgia (joint pain) | 10 |
| Injection site pruritus (itching) | 10 |
Who is reporting?
Anyone can submit a report. Figure1 and Table 7 show the number of reports by reporter type received for 2021 and 2022.
Figure 1: Number of reports received by reporter type, 2021 to 2022
Table 7: Number of reports received by reporter type, 2021 to 2022
| Reporter type | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Nurse | 269 | 116 |
| Pharmacist | 63 | 35 |
| General practitioner | 51 | 23 |
| Public | 33 | 45 |
| Hospital doctor | 6 | 0 |
| Other | 3 | 2 |
| Total | 431 | 221 |
Note:
The total number of reports may from the total reported above because a single
case can contain multiple reports from different sources.
Definitions
- Adverse event following immunisation (AEFI)
- An AEFI is an untoward medical event which
follows immunisation and does not necessarily have a causal relationship
with the administration of the vaccine. The adverse event may be an
unfavourable or unintended sign, abnormal laboratory finding, symptom or
disease.
All medicines can cause side effects, the known side effects for influenza vaccines are listed in the data sheets and consumer medicine information (CMI).
Search for a data sheet or CMI - Serious adverse events following immunisation
- An AEFI is considered serious if it:
- is a medically important event or reaction
- requires hospitalisation or prolongs an existing hospitalisation
- causes persistent or significant disability or incapacity
- is life threatening
- causes a congenital anomaly/birth defect
- results in death.
More information
Manatū Hauora – Ministry of Health information about influenza
How
Medsafe monitors vaccine safety
Report a suspected adverse
reaction
Suspected Medicine Adverse Reaction
Search (SMARS)
