Covid 19 coronavirus: All rest home and aged care facility residents offered vaccine

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout to current rest home and aged residential care facility residents and staff in the Bay of Plenty is complete.

Statistics released by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board showed more than 6000 vaccinations had been administered as of yesterday, July 1.

It comes as the Government is under increasing pressure surrounding the vaccine rollout, with Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins telling NZME: "We could have been clearer".

However, about 55,000 vaccinations had been administered across the Bay of Plenty district to more than 34,000 people.

Additionally, more than 14,000 vaccinations had been administered to the region's healthcare workforce.

"The vaccine is our best protection against the virus and we're committed to an equitable rollout for our community," Bay of Plenty Covid-19 incident controller Trevor Richardson said.

"One of our highest priorities in the vaccine rollout is the protection of our community's most vulnerable including our grandmothers and grandfathers, kaumātua and kuia."

The vaccine was managed and administered by the healthcare provider Cicada Health.

Any new residents to the region would be offered the vaccine as they moved in.

The Covid-19 vaccine was currently being rolled out according to priority groups established by the Ministry of Health.

The vaccination rate per capita for New Zealand places the country at 122nd in the world.

Text messages for vaccination bookings have also been sent out to people thought to be in group 3 but who are actually in group 4 - and Hipkins was trying to get a gauge on the extent of the issue.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Many people over 65 years old have also been frustrated at being unable to get vaccinated, while more than 50,000 people in group 4 have been able to get their first jabs.

Hipkins said the Government could have made it clear to those in group 3 that most of them wouldn't get vaccinated until the second half of the year.

"We certainly could have been clearer right from the beginning that it is going to be a three or four-month process."