Whangārei's Patrick Marsden says he feels safer now the Rust Avenue Medical Centre has helped him access both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Whangārei's Patrick Marsden says he feels safer now the Rust Avenue Medical Centre has helped him access both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Older Northlanders have spoken of a "shambolic" vaccine rollout they fear is leaving them vulnerable to a Covid-19 outbreak.
And a Whangārei-based advocate for people aged 65-plus says she wanted to see the region's older community better served by the vaccine rollout given Northland's population was older than the national average.
Former Whangārei MP and National deputy leader Dr Shane Reti said he had been inundated daily and for weeks by people 65-years-and-over unable to access the vaccine.
"It's not like the Government have had a week to do this, they've had a year."
Reti said he had heard from scores of older people frustrated by an inability to book their first or second doses. He blamed poor communication about the maximum length of time between jabs for creating public concern and confusion.
Whangārei Age Concern president Beryl Wilkinson said older people in the region had difficulties accessing vaccine rollout information with much of what was available on the internet.
She said her concerns had eased now that general practices were providing the vaccine even though the addition of vaccination by the family doctor had come too slowly.
"The GPs are so important to older persons because they know their health status and they understand their health situation."
In Northland 40 per cent of people aged 65-74 and 45 per cent of people aged 75-years and over enrolled with a Northland GP had been vaccinated. Most of those people had been vaccinated at Northland District Health Board community clinics at Semenoff Stadium and Kerikeri's old PlaceMakers building.
GPs and pharmacies across Northland began contacting their patients to offer vaccinations in early June. The Rust Avenue Medical Centre was the first GP clinic to start vaccinating patients.
Bethley O'Shea, 80, from Whangārei, wanted to be vaccinated to ensure she could keep contact with her ailing husband in an aged care facility.
"I don't want to anything to happen where I get told I can't visit my husband," she said.
O'Shea got her first jab on June 3 at Semenoff Stadium but still hadn't received confirmation of a second appointment a month later. The Ministry of Health 0800 number only provided information about testing, she couldn't get through on the health board number and a return to the stadium led to being told she needed a booking.
When she did connect with the health board, she was given an appointment in September and told the four months between doses "didn't matter".
"The whole thing is a fiasco."
A Whangārei woman in her 70s who got her first jab on June 5 as a walk-in at the stadium struggled to get a booking for her second dose. The woman said she was unable to receive a second dose from her GP because they only accepted people who needed both jabs.
A lack of appointments at health board community clinics saw her seek out a booking at the Ngāti Hine Health Trust Covid 19 Vaccination Centre on Walton St.
Rust Ave Medical Centre registered nurse Nicole Dugmore administers Patrick Dugmore's Covid-19 vaccination. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Morningside resident Patrick Marsden, 57, received his vaccine at the Rust Avenue GPs on Tuesday.
He said what had been a confusing system was made simple when the GP clinic contacted him. "Now I've had both doses I feel safe," he said.
Earlier this year, information on the Ministry of Health website recommended a six-week period between doses. It recently changed to say people needed their second jab at least 21 days later.
Medical Officer of Health Dr Bart Willems said no maximum time limit between doses currently existed.
Health board rural, family and community general manager Jeanette Wedding said it was reaching older people through retirement villages and voluntary organisations, and through calls by Healthline, she said.
Covid-19 vaccination group manager Astrid Koornneef said older people enrolled with a GP would receive an invitation for vaccination by the end of July. She said it was expected the rollout would differ across health boards according to the needs of its community but be broadly in line with the national plan.
Covid-19 vaccinations: 5 key pieces of information 1. No Northland District Health Board vaccination clinics are accepting walk-in appointments. To register for your free Covid-19 vaccination phone 0800 237 829. 2. The high demand for the Covid-19 vaccination means clinics are booked out until late July. 3. The new National Booking System available to members of the public launches on July 28. This will not affect anyone with a current booking. 4. People in group 3 - aged 16 to 64 with an underlying health condition; or kuia, kaumātua and their whānau aged 50-years and over; disabled people and their carers; and pregnant women – will be contacted to book their Covid-19 vaccinations. 5. NDHB has enough vaccines to cover all booked appointments with the doses provided per week to increase again from July 26 after a vaccine shipment to New Zealand.
