Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Vaccine mandate deadline near but some BOPDHB staff not jabbed

The Covid-19 ward at Tauranga Hospital. Photo / George Novak

Four per cent of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board's staff have not yet been vaccinated a few days out from the no-jab-no-job deadline.

This would equate to about 161 people, based on DHB employment data from June.

The DHB said it is confident any impacts on patient care can be managed appropriately after any unvaccinated staff are stood down, due to generally high levels of staff vaccinations.

It comes as 180 unvaccinated health support care workers face losing their jobs at Te Puna Ora o Mataatua Charitable Trust, another health provider in the region.

The Government's mandatory vaccination order requires all health practitioners and all workers in proximity to health practitioners providing services to the public to have received their first Covid-19 vaccine by Monday.

From Tuesday, all DHB staff who have not had a jab, barring any with a medical exemption, will be stood down.

Technical Advisory Services (TAS), an organisation representing district health boards, released nationwide DHB staff vaccination data on Wednesday.

As at Monday, about 95 per cent of clinical and non-clinical staff across DHBs had at least one vaccination, and 90 per cent were fully vaccinated.

That left 5 per cent of the roughly 80,000-strong workforce - or about 4000 people - yet to get vaccinated.

The data ranked the Bay of Plenty DHB the lowest in New Zealand for first doses at 93 per cent, but the DHB and TAS yesterday said the figure was not up to date.

TAS provided updated data showing that, as of November 8, 96 per cent of the DHB's staff had one dose and 92 per cent were fully vaccinated. This would place it around the middle of the national rankings.

TAS did not provide a breakdown of clinical and non-clinical staff, or staff numbers.

The estimated number of unvaccinated staff - 161 - was calculated by using the number of employees at the Bay of Plenty DHB according to a publicly available report from June, and its respective proportion of unvaccinated staff.

Spokeswoman for DHBs Rosemary Clements said the health boards were having "ongoing discussions" with staff who were not vaccinated.

Percentages for vaccinated staff were increasing, she said.

The DHB referred further queries to TAS.

Yesterday, the DHB moved to quash "misinformation" circulating in the Bay of Plenty community claiming the Tauranga and Whakatane hospitals would not treat unvaccinated people.

In a media statement, the board's acting chief operating officer Bronwyn Anstis said the misinformation was not correct.

"Unvaccinated patients will continue to be seen and welcomed into our premises for treatment."

The statement said all patients could be reassured that, after the vaccine mandate came into effect, all staff involved in their care at either hospital or other DHB sites would be vaccinated against Covid-19.

"The recent mandate that healthcare workers are to be vaccinated applies to our internal staff. The Bay of Plenty DHB will not discriminate against patients who are not vaccinated for Covid-19," Bronwyn said.

"If we ask you about your vaccination status it will be to let you know that we can vaccinate you, if you want it."

The DHB also announced a vaccination milestone yesterday.

In a media statement, it said 91per cent of Pacific Island residents in the district were fully vaccinated against Covid-19. More than 95 per cent have received at least one dose.

"This milestone is owed to the Pacific health providers in the Bay of Plenty and their tireless work to protect Pasifika families," DHB chief executive Pete Chandler said.

According to Ministry of Health data, as of Wednesday 85 per cent of the eligible Bay of Plenty DHB resident population had received one dose, and 73 per cent were fully vaccinated.