Summerset on the Coast resident Maisie Lund, aged 101, with recreational therapist Natalie Fulton after receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. Photo / Capital & Coast DHB
Summerset on the Coast resident Maisie Lund, aged 101, with recreational therapist Natalie Fulton after receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. Photo / Capital & Coast DHB
A 101-year-old has been one of the first aged-care residents to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in the Wellington region this week.
Four facilities marked the beginning of the vaccine roll-out at aged-residential-care facilities around the capital, including Summerset on the Coast in Paraparaumu.
Along with 101-year-old Maisie Lund, 92-year-old JohnSoeberg - both Summerset residents - also received the Covid vaccine, and had a message for those who might still be sitting on the fence.
"Any suggestion that you might not get vaccinated – you're not being fair to others," Soeberg said.
"You can feel however you want but don't be a risk to other people."
Fellow Summerset resident William Moffat was vaccinated on the same day.
"Because I was the last, everyone around me was yahooing and whooping with joy. I didn't even know I'd had it."
Summerset on the Coast resident John Soeberg, aged 92. Photo / Capital & Coast DHB
Three other aged-residential-care sites – Harbourview Rest Home and Hospital (Porirua), Vincentian Home & Hospital (Berhampore), and Parkwood Trust (Waikanae) - were part of the first week of vaccinations.
Community pharmacy and GP vaccinators will administer the jabs to all residents across the Hutt Valley, Wellington, Porirua and Kāpiti regions over the following weeks.
The roll-out was being overseen by Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast DHB Strategy, Planning and Performance director Rachel Haggety, who said they were on track with their vaccination plan.
"Our primary work has been in vaccinating our border and now we're vaccinating our healthcare workforce and getting to our first priority population," she said.
"We get great feedback from people who are really excited to be getting the vaccine."
She said the vaccine roll-out had gone smoothly due to their support from local PHOs, pharmacies and other community health providers.
"The roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine for Groups 1 and 2 has gone very well across our regions, thanks, in large part, to our partnerships with our local PHOs," she said.
"It is clear that the vaccine is the safest and most effective way to protect against Covid-19, and it is great to be able to vaccinate aged-residential-care residents – many of whom are vulnerable and frail – and keep them safe."
She said the work they were now doing would put them "in good stead" for the biggest part of the roll-out, scheduled from July, in which the bulk of New Zealand's population would be vaccinated.
