Covid-19 coronavirus: Northland District Health Board days away from clearing booking backlog

Huge demand from Northlanders keen to book their Covid-19 vaccination caused a large backlog in emails and phone calls the Northland District Health Board is working to clear. Photo / File

The Northland District Health Board is less than 200 emails away from clearing an extensive backlog caused by overwhelming public demand for the Covid-19 vaccination.

In mid-May the NDHB apologised for issues with its vaccination programme after people complained about excessive wait times on the 0800 booking number and unanswered emails.

Three days prior to the apology, a team of 23 NDHB staff had started calling back people who had either phoned the 0800 number or sent an email and were yet to receive a booking.

NDHB rural, family and community general manager Jeanette Wedding said responses to the backlog of emails went out on May 25 and 26, as well as June 1.

"There are 178 emails awaiting action which will be cleared out by the end of the week," she said.

People keen to book their Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or with queries are encouraged to phone 0800 237 829.

Wedding said the continuously high demand for vaccination bookings was a positive reflection of the community wanting to protect themselves and their whānau.

Last week 10,837 calls were made to the call centre via the 0800 number with a call completion rate of 98.6 per cent.

People are able to book appointments over the phone seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm, with weekends experiencing the least demand on the 0800 number manned by Healthline.

"If you find yourself in a queue we ask that you please be patient - there is a boosted workforce answering calls, so the intent is you will not have to wait too long."