Vaccine roll-out begins

UNDER WAY: Border worker and health protection officer Cyrena Bennett receives the first of two required doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from trained vaccinator Roimata Brown. The Government's vaccine roll-out of border workers and those who live with them started in Auckland earlier this week, and in Gisborne this morning. Picture supplied

Today is a big day for Tairawhiti.

The national Covid-19 vaccination programme started in Gisborne this morning with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine being administered to border workers.

The local roll-out of the vaccine “signals an important milestone on a journey to protect our community from the virus,” says Covid-19 vaccinator Roimata Brown.

“I'm proud to be helping our community stay safe, especially as we have some very vulnerable whanau here in Tairawhiti.

“It's a good feeling knowing that you're contributing to the safety of our people.

“Our team of public health nurses have trained for this and we're excited to get started.”

Border workers and the people they live with are categorised as Tier 1 — the first group to be vaccinated.

The workers are first in line because of their regular contact with people from overseas.

“Our team of local vaccinators will also be vaccinated over the next week,” said Ms Brown.

High risk front-line health, fire and emergency services workers, who are at the highest risk of exposure to Covid-19, will follow as the next group to be vaccinated.

According to the roll-out sequencing developed by the Ministry of Health, aged-care workers and residents, those with underlying health conditions, kaumatua and older people will also be prioritised.

“Getting vaccinated will be one of the biggest contributions that we can all make to the safety of ourselves, our whanau and the wider community,” says Hauora Tairawhiti chief executive Jim Green.

“Tairawhiti is one of the most vulnerable communities in Aotearoa.

“We can all help to eliminate that vulnerability by stepping up when the vaccine is made available to us.

“Working with our iwi health partners and leaders will be an important part of this roll-out to ensure our community can make an informed choice about the vaccine.”

The vaccination programme starts in Gisborne two days earlier than previously reported to make it as easy as possible for border workers and the people they live with.

About 300 people are eligible for the vaccine at this stage and delivery will roll out over the course of the week.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is approximately 95 percent effective after two doses.

The swift production of the vaccine comes as the result of international collaboration and dedication by pharmaceutical companies worldwide to find an effective and safe vaccine against the virus.

At the same time, the vaccine has met all the appropriate standards and checks, and is approved for use by Medsafe — the country's pharmaceutical regulator.

For official information about the Covid-19 vaccine and vaccination roll-out plan in Aotearoa, visit covid19.govt.nz

A story in yesterday's paper stated “border workers and their whanau” will be offered a vaccination against Covid-19. This should have said border workers “and the people they live with” will be eligible. The article also said the vaccine arrived on Thursday. It arrived yesterday.