A travel clinic asks what you have already had. A new job wants proof. Your child’s B4 School Check is coming up, or they are starting at boarding school or a hall of residence. In New Zealand, the official answer to “what vaccines has this person had?” lives in one place: the Aotearoa Immunisation Register, or AIR.
This guide covers the ways to get a copy of that record, for you or your child, what it holds, what changed for early learning services and schools in January 2026, and what to do when a vaccine you know you had is not on it. It was checked against Health New Zealand and Ministry of Education sources on 9 November 2026.
Disclosure
I am a doctor, and I founded exora, a personal health record app. It appears once, near the end, and I am explicit there about what it is not. Everything before that applies whatever you use.
The short version
- Online: sign up for a My Health Account, upgrade it to the Complete identification level, and view or download your record in My Health Record at my.health.nz. You need to be 16 or over.
- By phone: call Health New Zealand on 0800 222 478, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
- From your GP or pharmacy: some can print your record. There may be a cost, so ask first.
- By request: fill in Health New Zealand’s immunisation request form if none of the above works. It can take up to 20 days.
- For your child: link them to your My Health Account if they are under 12 and your name is on their New Zealand birth certificate, or ask their GP.
- If a vaccine is missing: ask the provider who gave it, or email Health New Zealand with a correction request.
What the Aotearoa Immunisation Register is
Health New Zealand describes the AIR as “our national register for immunisation activity”. It is newer than many people realise. At the end of 2023, the old National Immunisation Register (NIR) was retired and replaced with the AIR. If an older guide or form mentions the NIR, it means the register that is now the AIR.
Health New Zealand’s privacy information for the AIR sets out what it records:
- Your NHI number, date of birth and gender.
- For each vaccination: the vaccine, batch number, date, who gave it and where.
- Whether you declined a vaccination.
Your name, address and ethnicity are not stored in the AIR itself; they are linked through the National Health Index. The people who can see your record include vaccinators, the health professionals involved in your care, and Health New Zealand staff who run vaccination programmes. Health New Zealand says all access is logged and can be audited.
Getting your record online: My Health Record
Health New Zealand recommends My Health Record as the starting point for anyone over 16. It sits at my.health.nz, and you sign in to it with a My Health Account.
- Sign up for a My Health Account. You need to be 16 or older and have a valid New Zealand or Australian identity, such as a passport.
- Upgrade your identification level. A new account starts at “Identification Level: Basic”, which shows only COVID-19 information and your NHI details. To see your wider immunisation history, select “Confirm identity in My Health Account” and upgrade to Complete.
- View or download your record. With Complete access, My Health Record shows immunisation records back to 2005. You can also have a PDF of your record, and your linked children’s, emailed to you within 24 hours. If it has not arrived after 2 business days, check your junk folder.
Two things worth knowing. Records before 2005 are not shown there, so if you need older vaccinations, use one of the other routes or check old paper records. And if you have asked for restricted access to your record in the AIR, it will not appear in My Health Record at all, though you can still request a copy.
If you are stuck, the My Health Record helpline is 0800 222 478, or email help@my.health.nz.
What happened to My Covid Record?
Older guides send people to My Covid Record. My Health Record has taken over what it did. Health New Zealand’s page on proof of COVID-19 vaccination says you do not need an international travel COVID-19 vaccination certificate when travelling overseas, and points to My Health Record for your full vaccination history.
Other ways to get it
- By phone. Call 0800 222 478, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Waits may be longer at busy times, and you need to give enough information for the staff to confirm who you are.
- From your healthcare provider. Some GP practices and pharmacies can print your record. Health New Zealand notes there may be a cost, so ask first.
- By information request. If none of those works, complete the immunisation request form on Health New Zealand’s page. Requests can take up to 20 days.
Your right to your own health information does not depend on any of these routes. Under the Health Information Privacy Code you can ask any New Zealand provider for it, and our New Zealand medical records guide explains how.
Getting your child’s record
You can link a child’s record to your own My Health Account if:
- your account is at “Identification level: Complete”
- the child is under 12
- you are over 16
- your name is on the child’s New Zealand birth certificate.
Health New Zealand’s My Health Record page lists when linking is not possible: when the names do not match, when the child has an overseas birth certificate, when the child is raised by someone other than their birth parents (for example, through whāngai), or when the child is 12 or older. In any of those cases, ask your child’s GP or pharmacy to print the record, or use the request form. A child’s record does not show in My Health Record if access to it is restricted in the AIR.
For your child, there is often a second record as well: the Well Child Tamariki Ora My Health Book your midwife gave you. Nurses check immunisation status at each Well Child visit. The book is a useful paper record, but the AIR is the official one. Our guide to Well Child Tamariki Ora checks covers the book and the visits.
What it is used for
Health New Zealand lists the times a copy may be useful: school enrolment, B4 School Checks, boarding school or halls of residence, employment checks, and overseas travel. A travel clinic, in particular, can only plan properly if it can see what you have already had. Our guide to travelling overseas with a medical condition covers the rest of that appointment.
Early learning services and schools: what changed in 2026
Until this year, early learning services and primary schools had to keep immunisation records for the children enrolled with them, so parents were asked for their child’s immunisation details at enrolment. Many guides still say so. That rule has gone.
The Ministry of Education’s Early Learning Bulletin of 22 January 2026 says the Health (Immunisation) Regulations 1995, which required early childhood education services and primary schools to keep immunisation records, were revoked on 8 January 2026. In its words: “You will no longer need to collect and record immunisation information.” The reason it gives is the AIR: “Now that we have AIR, ECE and primary school immunisation registers are no longer required.” Authorised healthcare providers can access the records there instead. The Ministry has also removed the “Health” section from its sample enrolment agreement for early learning services.
So if a centre or school still asks for a certificate, it may be using an old form. It is worth asking what they need it for.
If a vaccine is missing or wrong
The AIR is only as complete as what providers have recorded. If something is missing or wrong:
- Ask the provider who vaccinated you. The clinic, pharmacy or school programme that gave the vaccine is best placed to check what they recorded.
- Ask Health New Zealand to correct it. Its AIR privacy information says to email customerservice@health.govt.nz with a correction request.
- Remember the 2005 cut-off. If an older vaccination is not showing in My Health Record, it may simply be outside the years it displays. Ask for a copy by phone or request instead.
Restricting who can see your record
You can ask for restricted access by completing Health New Zealand’s form to change access restrictions on immunisation information in the AIR, and emailing it to customerservice@health.govt.nz. Processing can take up to 20 working days. Once restricted, providers can see only the immunisations they gave you, your record does not appear in My Health Record, and Health New Zealand will not contact you proactively except in an emergency. You can still ask for a copy.
Vaccines you had overseas
If you were vaccinated in another country, bring those records to your vaccinator. Health New Zealand’s page on catching up on missed immunisations says “it’s helpful to provide your vaccinator with records of any past immunisations”, and that you can ask your previous overseas doctor or provider for them. If you cannot get your history, tell your vaccinator, who will plan a catch-up. The same page says catch-up immunisations are free for all tamariki under 18.
If your overseas records are not in English, our guide to translating medical records in New Zealand covers your options.
How it differs from your GP portal
The AIR is the national register. Your GP’s patient portal, such as ManageMyHealth, may show vaccinations too, but only what your practice holds and chooses to share. My Health Record is the window onto the AIR. Our article on My Health Record, patient portals and personal health record apps explains what each one does and does not include.
Where exora fits, and where it does not
The record from My Health Record arrives as a PDF, which is a good start, and it tends to end up in an email thread. Upload it to exora, along with older paper records, the pages of your child’s My Health Book or vaccines from overseas, and exora reads them for you, with a reading system built for medical records. Each vaccine goes into one record with its date, linked back to the page it came from. exora is free to start, with an optional membership.
You can turn on a schedule that compares the record against the New Zealand schedule, and each child can have their own profile, with their own record. There is more on the immunisation records feature page.
Where it does not help, plainly:
- It is not the official record. exora has no connection to the AIR, My Health Record, My Health Account or any Health New Zealand system. It works from the documents you choose to add, and a missing vaccine still has to be fixed at the source.
- It can misread. The reading is automated, so check anything that matters against the original. That is why every vaccine links back to it.
- Your data is stored in Sydney, Australia, outside New Zealand, and exora has no New Zealand health-data certification. How we handle it is on our security page; read it before you upload anything.
- It is not medical advice. It does not tell you or your child which vaccines you need. That is a conversation for your GP, nurse or pharmacist.
If you keep records for several people, my guide to family health records in New Zealand covers who can see what.
Sources
- Health New Zealand: get a copy of your immunisation record (all options, children, uses; last updated 22 July 2026)
- Health New Zealand: My Health Record (identification levels, records back to 2005, PDF by email, linking tamariki, helpline; last updated 22 July 2026)
- Health New Zealand: Aotearoa Immunisation Register privacy information (what is recorded, who can see it, restricting access, corrections)
- Health New Zealand: about the Aotearoa Immunisation Register
- Health New Zealand: immunisation coverage (the NIR retired and replaced by the AIR at the end of 2023)
- Health New Zealand: proof of COVID-19 vaccination
- Health New Zealand: catching up on missed immunisations (overseas records, free catch-ups under 18; last updated 22 July 2026)
- Ministry of Education: Early Learning Bulletin, 22 January 2026 (Health (Immunisation) Regulations 1995 revoked on 8 January 2026)
Claims about the Aotearoa Immunisation Register, My Health Record and immunisation records for early learning services and schools are sourced to Health New Zealand and the Ministry of Education, linked inline, and were checked on 9 November 2026. Services and their names change; this page will be updated as they do. This article is general information, not medical advice. How exora handles your information is in our privacy policy.
