24 January 2022
With the likelihood that the COVID-19 Omicron variant is now circulating in the community, we asked CFNZ’s Clinical Advisory Panel for advice on what the CF community can do to keep itself safe over the coming months.
There’s no surprise that it’s keeping on doing what you’ve been doing so well over the last two years – vaccination, masks, social distancing, hand hygiene, scanning and testing.
Advice about COVID-19 and vaccinations is on the Unite Against Covid website - but some things have been updated so we’ve provided an overview below.
All of New Zealand moved to the Red Traffic Light setting at 11.59pm on Sunday 23 January 2022. We strongly encourage everyone to follow the Ministry of Health guidelines. The current requirements for Red can be found here.
We understand the Government will be making further announcements over the coming week about how it will manage community transmission of the Omicron variant and how such things as mask wearing, contact tracing and testing may change if community cases rise significantly. We will provide an update as soon as any further information is available.
If you have CF and you do test positive for COVID-19, or you are the parent or caregiver of a child with CF and they test positive, please advise your CF team. They can give you guidance about what you should do.
There's a lot of information about vaccinations online. Below are links to resources that we encourage you to read.
CFNZ strongly encourages anyone who has not already done so to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves, their families, friends and colleagues, and the CF community.
For those who are 18 years and over and 4 months past their second vaccine dose, the booster is available and is strongly advised to help protect against serious illness.
Vaccination is also now available for those aged 5-11 years old. Information on vaccinating children, including interviews with paediatricians discussing vaccinations for this age group, can be found here.
The Starship’s website also has information about vaccination for children here.
For those who are post-transplant, a third vaccine dose is recommended. The Ministry of Health website provides further information about this here.
There have been a lot of questions around whether or not to send children with CF / of people with CF back to school. Every family and CF situation is different - each family should make their own educated decision on how to best keep their children safe.
Our CFNZ Fieldworkers are required to follow individual district health board guidelines when it comes to returning to face-to-face clinics and inpatient visits. The Fieldworkers can always be contacted by phone, email and text if you need support.
