Sijnja said.
Primary health organisations had put much effort into the programme and now there was a credibility issue that had to be managed, Otago District Health Board member Dr Sijnja said at this week's community and public health advisory committee meeting.
"The people at the coal face are now dealing with the public who are questioning the whole value of the programme and asking 'Was it a waste of time?'''
Some patients had called to cancel immunisation appointments the next day and staff were not sure how to respond.
People might now be sceptical about the talk of mass vaccinations against pneumococcal disease, Dr Sijnja said.
ODHB chief executive Brian Rousseau said the mass vaccinations against meningococcal B had stopped because the cycle of meningitis B had been broken.
"The cost-benefit ratio completely switched. If you actually see the information on this, it has been an outstanding success.''
Health Minister David Cunliffe on Monday announced the nationwide vaccination programme would finish in June, even though funding had been put aside to continue the programme until 2009.
The number of cases of meningitis B had dramatically reduced, and the Government had received advice from clinicians that a mass-vaccination campaign was no longer needed, Mr Cunliffe said.
Cases of the meningitis B strain covered by the vaccine had gone from 370 in 2001, to 47 in 2007.
"This has been a huge win for the New Zealand public health system and a lot of praise must go to the doctors, nurses, immunisation experts, and Maori and Pacific providers who wholeheartedly backed this immunisation programme.''
More than one million people under the age of 20 were immunised in the $200 million programme, which protected against one strain of meningitis B.
From 2004, people under the age of 20 were immunised, but from 2006 only preschoolers were immunised. Funding had been committed to run the preschooler immunisations until 2009.
The Ministry of Health would continue to monitor the disease and would reintroduce the vaccine if it was needed, Mr Cunliffe said.
An announcement is expected in the next few weeks about a pneumococcal vaccine.
