Just the facts - A closer look at the Covid-19 vaccine being rolled out across Aotearoa. How it works, why we need it and who developed it. Video / NZ Herald
A programme co-ordinator, two service design advisers and several "sequencing" managers - these are some of the roles being urgently sought by the Ministry of Health for its Covid vaccination roll-out.
The job vacancies, advertised internally on the public service's deployment site, are "high priority", calling into question the Government's readiness to roll out the vaccines.
But the Ministry of Health says it needs to scale up its workforce in line with the roll-out, which is currently prioritising border workers, high-risk frontline workers and people living in high-risk places.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and director general of health Ashley Bloomfield have remained adamant that the vaccine roll-out is more or less on track. At the last update - a week ago - almost 20,000 people had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, while 71,000 had had one jab.
But the Government has been increasingly on the back foot over its reluctance to release data including daily vaccination doses and targets, and the proportion of frontline border workers who are still to be vaccinated.
The Ministry of Health has just started releasing the number of vaccine doses compared to the roll-out plan - but only up until the previous week and not looking into the future.
And on Monday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed the number of MIQ workers who have had at least one vaccine jab - 86 per cent - but only after the Government revealed that two infected Grand Millennium security guards hadn't been vaccinated despite them wanting to be.
Hipkins is expected to release more data today about border workers who have and have not been vaccinated when he gives the weekly vaccination update.
National Party Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop says the number of urgent job vacancies for crucial roles in the vaccine roll-out is a sign that all is not well. Photo / Mark Mitchell
But the ministry's current job vacancies were a sign that all was not well, according to National Party Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop.
"It beggars belief that the ministry is clearly looking for a roll-out team to actually roll out the Covid-19 vaccine programme that's already been rolling out for almost two months.
"The real question is: why wasn't the Government organised enough to recruit these urgent and high priority roles well in advance of now? It is a deeply concerning sign that the vaccine programme is in trouble."
The jobs are described on the site as "urgent and high priority roles that are essential to the programme".
They include:
• a programme co-ordinator (governance and reporting) to "co-ordinate project delivery and programme requirements" • a team co-ordinator (logistics and inventory) • three senior advisers (two for service design and one for finance to make "fiscally sound, strategic decisions") • an executive assistant (communications and engagement) • four cohort managers for "guiding the cohort through their vaccination experience" • six sequencing co-ordinators to support the cohort managers • two process analysts for "mapping and continuous improvement"
"Over the coming weeks, MoH will be seeking assistance from across the system for a number of roles. These roles are crucial parts of the Vaccination and Immunisation Programme for Covid-19," the site says.
Most of the positions are for six months.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the vaccine roll-out sometimes demanded specialist skills.
"The Ministry of Health continues to work alongside other agencies and second in, or contract, expertise as required, for example establishing the Covid-19 vaccine and immunisation programme.
"Some of these engagements may be brief, or for fixed periods of time, as we utilise specialist skill sets as needed.
"As the Covid-19 immunisation programme continues to scale up, in line with the Government's Covid-19 vaccine sequencing framework, so too does its workforce."
From May, the roll-out is expected to start vaccinating people at risk of getting very sick from Covid-19, including those aged 65 and over, with the general population last in line from July.
