Lower Hutt families of border workers set for Covid-19 jab

Vaccinators are measuring out doses and labelling them before vaccinating border workers and health staff in Wellington (File). Photo / AFP

By Hamish Cardwell, of RNZ.

The families of Wellington border workers and frontline health staff are joining that coveted club of those who have received a Covid-19 jab.

Five community vaccination centres are now open in the region, with one in Lower Hutt the first to start giving out the vaccine.

Out on the court at the Walter Nash sports centre, community nurse Trish Kerr is scoring a different kind of shot.

She said she was excited to be getting the first of her two Pfizer vaccines, to protect herself, her loved ones, and clients.

"I wanted it basically to look after my own family and the community that I live in.

"But also I deal with a lot of vulnerable patients as part of my job as a nurse. I just wanted to make sure that I am safe - for them to be safe."

The Pfizer vaccine must be kept in storage at -70C until it is ready to be used.

It is then shipped to clinics and kept between 2C and 8C for up to five days - about the same temperature as many other vaccines.

At the Walter Nash centre, it is stored in a quiet space in the venue's changing rooms area, where vaccinators can carefully measure out doses and label them.

The family of border workers and frontline health staff come to the waiting area - chairs are spaced out on the sports court - before they're led through to a vaccination booth.

Vaccinator Laraine Koerbin said it was an honour to be pitching in.

"I kind of feel quite privileged to deliver this, [I] feel that I'm part of history.

"And one day, my grandchildren may look back and talk about their grandmother - I don't have grandchildren yet - but [they'll] say [I was] part of the cause."

Koerbin said she had no complaints from people that the shot hurt - instead, people seemed very excited to get it.

Vaccinations at the centre started on Sunday, with about 200 people a day getting the jab there, before it moves to other sites in the Wellington region later this week.

Primary health organisation Te Awakairangi's chief executive Bridget Allan said it was all hands on deck.

"We've got 15-odd people here. But they're backed up by our teams back in the office, the call centre team ... backed up by our IT team to make sure that they've got the laptops they need, so that the data flows to the Covid immunisation register.

"So there's a whole team effort behind the scenes as well as the people you're seeing here."

Allen said the vaccine was safe and effective and she was unaware of anyone refusing it so far.

"This is not a mandatory vaccination, we all know that, so it is a matter of encouragement and reassurance."

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins gave an update on vaccination numbers today and said so far more than 40,000 doses had been administered.

He said 50 clinics were expected to be operating by next Tuesday.

About 1300 vaccinators have completed their Pfizer training and 95 per cent of border and MIQ workforce have received their first Covid-19 vaccination.

Two million people from the most at-risk groups are expected to be vaccinated by the middle of the year.