Editorial: High Delta case numbers but the Covid risk is not evenly shared

Anti-lockdown protesters making their way through Newmarket at the weekend may potentially have added to the spread of Covid. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Editorial

As the Delta variant increasingly beds into areas around the country and infections are on the rise, the overall numbers look alarming. Yet the risk is not evenly shared.

Those coronavirus figures are now regularly spilling over 100 a day, including 143 yesterday, and there are still 1753 active cases.

Ministry of Health data released on Saturday showed 160 new cases - the highest daily number of the Delta outbreak. Those cases are mainly in Auckland, but also Waikato, Northland and Christchurch. The number of unlinked ones keeps growing.

For people who don't know if those near them are vaccinated or not it's an unwelcome trend. It probably also worries people who generally want vaccination rates to be higher and have concerns for their fellow citizens and how the health system will cope.

However, overall case numbers only tell part of the story.

Last month, director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said that only 4 per cent of the Delta cases involved fully vaccinated people. He said the double-dosed were more likely to develop mild symptoms, have the virus for a shorter time and be less infectious.

Ministry figures on Saturday showed that of 247 hospitalised cases only three people had been fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the infection was reported.

Another 48 had received one dose and five had two doses but were still within the two-week period for immunity. And 180 were unvaccinated yet eligible for doses.

Of the 3205 total cases on Saturday in the Delta outbreak, 1679 involved unvaccinated people. A further 194 were fully vaccinated.

Unfortunately, children aged under 12, who can't yet be vaccinated, made up 640 of the Delta outbreak cases. Eleven of those hospitalised were not eligible for a shot because of age.

Since New Zealand's first death from Covid-19 in March 2020, there have been 27 other victims of the virus. Despite the large number of Delta cases, there have so far been two deaths in the current outbreak.

Unlike earlier in the rollout, when dose supplies were a problem, people aged over 12 have been more easily able to get a vaccine for weeks. The unvaccinated are currently 15 per cent of New Zealand's eligible population.

Some people are moving out of that column, gradually overcoming their hesitation over jabs. Of 42,755 doses delivered on Friday, 10,995 were first doses. There are plenty of people who need encouragement to follow suit, not hearts hardened against them.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and others used elsewhere, were developed to provide protection against hospitalisation and death. They can't provide 100 per cent protection against severe outcomes but the data here and in the US shows they are doing their job.

With coronavirus ''breakthrough" infections, the vaccines reduce the impact, and the chance of catching and spreading it. If people want to avoid infections altogether a medical-grade mask is an important tool.

It is probably disquieting for people to read about infections among some people who have done the right thing and got vaccinated. In the past few days there have been positive tests at an Auckland rest home.

Yet the unvaccinated are carrying the lion's share of the risk. The crowd of anti-lockdown freedom of choice protesters who marched at the weekend were potentially contributing to it.

For those who qualify for a shot but actively and determinedly don't want it, that risk is their own choice.