Covid 19 - The 90% Project: Teens fastest to vaccinate nationally but Bay lagging

Almost half of Bay of Plenty teenagers have had their first Pfizer vaccine.

As of September 30, 47.8 per cent of 12- to 19-year-olds in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board area had received their first dose.

Since then, a Tauranga Moana 16-year-old received the 250,000th Covid-19 vaccination in the Bay of Plenty on Tuesday morning.

Paea Uilou (Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Arawa, Ngāti Tonga) was given her first jab at Te Rereatukāhia on the Te Manu Toroa mobile vaccination unit.

"I want to get vaccinated so that I can reconnect with my whānau here and overseas," she said.

According to Ministry of Health figures, 67 per cent of teenagers nationwide had received their first dose as of 11.59pm on Monday. Nineteen per cent were fully vaccinated.

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield last week praised New Zealand teenagers for their efforts. "Despite them being the last group to be able to access the vaccine, more than 60 per cent of this group have already had one dose," he said.

"Uptake in this group, our 12 to 19s, has been faster than in any other group ... Thank you for your leadership and the example you are setting for all of us."

Teenagers have only been able to receive their vaccine from September 1 due to the Government's staggered age group approach.

Those aged 30 to 40 only became eligible on August 25, while those aged 40 to 50 could from August 18 and the 50- to 55-year-olds could from August 13.

Despite the fast uptake, the age group is still slightly behind other age groups.

Seventy per cent of 20 to 34-year-olds have had their first dose and 31 per cent are fully vaccinated. In the 35 to 49 age bracket, 79 per cent have had one dose while 41 per cent have had two.

In the 50 to 64 range, 86 per cent have had one dose and 63 per cent are fully vaccinated, while 93 per cent of the 65-plus age bracket have had one dose and 84 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Ministry of Health Covid-19 vaccination operations group manager Astrid Koorneef said health officials were "very encouraged" by the uptake among teenagers.

"These young people are demonstrating great leadership and should be commended for taking such a responsible and mature approach to getting vaccinated," she said.

"They are playing a critical role in helping us achieve our 90 per cent target rate and the personal decisions they are making to get vaccinated are protecting all of Aotearoa New Zealand.

"We know that getting vaccinated is the best way to protect ourselves and those around us. The more of us who are vaccinated in our community, the greater our immunity."

Under New Zealand law, children aged under 16 years old may give or withhold consent to healthcare treatment as long as they are competent to do so.

Koorneef said it was the role of a healthcare professional to decide whether a child was competent.

University of Otago department of public health senior research fellow Dr Amanda Kvalsvig previously said New Zealand benefitted from assessing vaccine trials in children aged 12 to 15 across the world.

"In the US alone, just under 7 million children in this age group have had at least one vaccine dose, along with a further 4 million 16– t 17-year-olds," she said.

"With that amount of experience to draw on, the evidence for this age group is very clear: getting vaccinated is a much safer choice than getting ill with the infection.

"We've seen Covid-19 outbreaks in schools before now, so it's great to know that children will be protected in the future."

University of Otago department of public health senior research fellow Dr Amanda Kvalsvig. Photo / Supplied

Meanwhile, BayTrust is offering to fund innovative ideas to boost vaccination rates across the Bay of Plenty.

The organisation is looking for sustainable ideas and projects to incentivise the Bay of Plenty population to roll up their sleeves.

BayTrust chief executive Alastair Rhodes hopes the ideas could boost the region's overall vaccination rate and help reach the 90 per cent target.

In order to make dreams a reality, Rhodes has promised BayTrust will provide funding.

"The low vaccination rates currently seen in the Bay of Plenty are both a health risk to our communities and an economic risk," he said.

"We may be left behind other regions with higher vaccination rates when activity starts to fully open up again."

BayTrust's region extends from Katikati to Tūrangi, Te Kaha, the Eastern and Western Bay of Plenty, and the Rotorua and Taupō districts.