There are now 20 confirmed cases of measles in Canterbury with health authorities warning that number is likely to increase.
Unvaccinated people who come within two metres of an infected person have a 90 per cent chance of contracting the disease.
The youngest to fall ill so far is just 17-weeks-old while the oldest is 54 years of age.
There are 18,000 extra vaccines due to arrive in Christchurch next week to meet the demands of people rushing to get immunised.
Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ramon Pink says , as the numbers of confirmed cases climb, the risk of getting measles increases for those not immunised.
Measles is a serious, highly infectious, potentially life-threatening disease.
The best protection is for people born after 1969 to have had two MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccinations.
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