Abstract
Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) risks a large measles epidemic. Child immunisation coverage at two years of age has been falling and is now 83% overall, and 69% for Māori children. This is far below the 95% target level needed to maintain measles elimination. This decline adds to historical gaps in immunisation coverage, particularly for adolescents and young adults. Inbound international travel has returned to near pre-pandemic levels. With global measles increasing, more infectious cases will enter NZ. To prevent a measles epidemic urgent steps are needed to catch up those who have missed out on vaccination, alongside continuing work to increase routine childhood coverage, particularly for Māori, Pacific Peoples, and deprived communities. NZ needs to immediately decrease the risk of importing cases from countries with measles transmission and exporting infections to Pacific Islands. We also need to strengthen epidemic response capacity across the public health, healthcare, and educational sectors. Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) is vulnerable to a national measles epidemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Verification Commission (RVC) for Measles and Rubella