From the House: Vaccine is our best tool in the fight against Covid

Stuart Nash is Napier MP. Photo / NZME

What's it to be: "Shot Bro" or "Chariots of Pfizer"?

The unscientific polls to determine the best name for the mobile Covid vaccination buses being trialled in Auckland and Northland have produced some classic Kiwi humour.

But on a more serious note, they may point to a generational difference between age groups where we are working hard to promote vaccinations to save lives.

Chariots of Pfizer might appeal most to those with a memory of the 1981 Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire. Shot Bro reflects the excitement of point-scoring in spectator sports and the colloquial Kiwi slang for a mate. So perhaps your choice of name for mobile vaccination clinics betrays your age!

There are pronounced differences in vaccination rates for different age groups, and we need to work hard to ensure everyone who wants to get vaccinated does so, quickly.

There has been a real surge in vaccinations, and at the time of writing this, 71 per cent of our eligible population have had at least one shot, and 36 per cent of the eligible population are fully vaccinated.

But one age group in particular needs encouragement to come forward, and that is the under-40s. If you have any influence over friends, family, workmates or neighbours, or members of a sports or social group aged between 12 and 40, please check that they have all the information they need to make a decision and come forward.

What we're seeing from overseas is that Covid-19 is morphing into a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Yes, vaccinated people are affected by it, but nowhere near as badly as unvaccinated people. And that is certainly true in places like the US, for example, where they've got very high vaccination rates in some areas and very low vaccination rates in others.

The next couple of months are crunch time. If we see large numbers of people under the age of 40 coming forward and booking in, so that their vaccination levels start to match those of older age cohorts, then we will continue to see a high level of vaccination and protection for our wider population.

New Zealanders are more informed about vaccines than we're seeing abroad. We're not seeing people being sucked into misinformation at the same rate as they are around the rest of the world.

I'm incredibly proud of New Zealanders for that. For anyone who does perhaps have questions, ask them of a trusted source, not a random person on YouTube. Go to respected sites like Unite Against Covid, the Ministry of Health, your DHB or a local health provider.

There is nothing holding us back when it comes to vaccine supply. As of last weekend we had good turnout here in Hawke's Bay, where more than 150,000 doses have been administered. More than 52,000 people in Hawke's Bay are fully vaccinated. The best week so far seems to have been the last week of August, when we topped 20,000 shots in one week.

I want to do a big shoutout to Chris McKenna at the DHB who is running the programme, and to everyone working at the DHB mass-vaccination superclinics, at a GP practice or pharmacy, and marae- and church-based clinics.

Let me be clear on why is it important: it literally saves lives and prevents hospitalisations. There is real-world evidence here in New Zealand and internationally that proves you're far less likely to get Covid and far less likely to get sick and need to go to hospital if you are vaccinated. Getting vaccinated protects you, your family, your loved ones and our economy.

The vaccine is the best tool we have in our toolbox and our ticket to greater freedoms. The more people who are vaccinated, the fewer restrictions you have to have. Just as we've been world-leading with the success of our elimination strategy, in the future I want New Zealand to be world-leading, both on the level of freedoms and our health and wellbeing.

High rates of vaccination are how we can achieve just that.

• Stuart Nash is Napier MP.