Published: 2 October 2025
Safety Information
Spontaneous reports: Seasonal influenza vaccination 2024
This page provides information on the number of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) reports for influenza vaccines reported to the New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Database in 2024.
- Extract date
- Influenza vaccines administered and number of AEFI reports
- Serious reports
- Reports by ethnicity and age
- AEFIs reported
- Who is reporting?
- Definitions
- More information
Extract date
The AEFI data below was extracted from the New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Database on 25 August 2025. Please note that adverse reaction data is subject to change due to receipt of additional information.
Influenza vaccines administered and number of AEFI reports
There were five approved and available quadrivalent vaccines in 2024 (one of which was funded for eligible people):
- Influvac Tetra for children and adults aged 6 months and older (funded for those meeting the Pharmac eligibility criteria)
- Flucelvax Quad for children and adults aged 6 months and older
- Afluria Quad Junior for children aged under 3 years, ie, 6–35 months
- Afluria Quad for children and adults aged from 3 years
- Fluad Quad for adults aged 65 years or older.
Table 1 shows the number of AEFI reports received and the number of influenza vaccine doses administered in 2024.
Table 1: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines, vaccine doses administered and estimated reporting rate, 2024
| Number of reportsa | 189 |
| Influenza vaccine doses administeredb | 1,201,591 |
| Estimated reporting rate per 100,000 doses administered | 15.7 |
- Source: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines reported to the New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Database. Data extracted 25 August 2025.
- Source: Aotearoa Immunisation Register. Data extracted 18 March 2025.
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.
A report will be coded as serious in the database if the reporter considers that one or more of the suspected reaction(s) were serious. We may also upgrade a report from non-serious to serious if the reported information indicates that one of the seriousness criteria has been met. However, we don’t downgrade a serious report to non-serious.
Of the 189 influenza vaccine AEFI reports received, 85 (45%) were coded as serious in the database (Table 2).
Table 2: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines, number (No.) and percentage (%) of non-serious and serious reports, 2024
| Report type | No. | % |
|---|---|---|
| Non-serious reports | 104 | 55% |
| Serious reports | 85 | 45% |
| Total | 189 | 100% |
Reports by ethnicity and age
Tables 3 and 4 show reports by ethnicity and age, respectively.
Table 3: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines by ethnicity, 2024
| Ethnicity | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Māori | 5 |
| Pacific peoples | 5 |
| Asian | 10 |
| European or Other | 116 |
| Unknown/not reported | 53 |
| Total | 189 |
Note:
- Ethnicity is based on prioritised ethnicity, which means each person is only counted against a single ethnicity category. When a person has multiple ethnicities recorded, then the prioritised ethnicity is ranked in the order of 1) Māori 2) Pacific Peoples 3) Asian 4) Other. For example, if a person is recorded as their ethnicities being both Māori and Pacific Peoples, their prioritised ethnicity will be Māori, ie, they will not be counted in the Pacific Peoples group.
Table 4: AEFI reports for influenza vaccines by age band, 2024
| Age band | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Under 3 years | 4 |
| 3 to 11 years | 7 |
| 12 to 17 years | 3 |
| 18 to 44 years | 44 |
| 45 to 64 years | 46 |
| 65 to 74 years | 37 |
| 75 years and older | 25 |
| Unknown/not reported | 23 |
| Total | 189 |
AEFIs reported
The most frequently reported AEFIs in 2024 were headache, dizziness and vaccination site pain (Table 5).
Table 5: Most frequently reported AEFIs for influenza vaccines, 2024
| AEFI | No. of reports |
|---|---|
| Headache | 19 |
| Dizziness | 17 |
| Vaccination site pain | 16 |
| Fatigue | 14 |
| Nausea | 13 |
| Dyspnoea (shortness of breath) | 10 |
| Pain | 10 |
| Paraesthesia (tingling, prickling or feeling of pins and needles) | 10 |
| Vomiting | 10 |
| Hypoaesthesia (numbness) | 9 |
| Chills | 9 |
Who is reporting?
Anyone can submit a report. Table 6 shows the number of reports by reporter type received for 2024. Nurses (75) and the public (64) submitted the most reports.
Note that pharmaceutical companies receive reports from a variety of reporters (eg, nurses, public, GPs) and then submit the reports to the New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Database. We code these reports as per the original reporter, not as the pharmaceutical company.
Table 6: Number of reports received by reporter type, 2024
| Reporter type | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Nurse | 75 |
| Publica | 64 |
| Pharmacist | 30 |
| General practitioner | 12 |
| Hospital doctor/physician | 4 |
| Other healthcare professional | 4 |
| Total | 189 |
Notes:
- Public includes consumers and non-healthcare professionals.
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.
- Serious adverse events following immunisation
- A serious AEFI is one where the reporter
considered that the event:
- was medically important
- required hospitalisation or prolonged an existing hospitalisation
- caused persistent or significant disability or incapacity
- was life threatening
- caused a congenital anomaly/birth defect
- resulted in death.
A report may be upgraded to serious if the reported information indicates that one of the seriousness criteria has been met, but we don’t downgrade a serious report to non-serious.
It is possible for different people to have experienced the same event but for the report to be serious for one person and non-serious for another person.
More information
Medsafe
All medicines and vaccines can cause side effects. The known side effects for influenza vaccines are listed in the data sheets and consumer medicine information (CMI).
See also:
- How Medsafe monitors vaccine safety
- Report a suspected adverse reaction
- Suspected Medicine Adverse Reaction Search (SMARS)
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
