The Covid-19 community vaccination centre in Te Awamutu is currently only operating at three days a week. Photo / Dean Taylor
The Covid-19 community vaccination centre in Te Awamutu is currently only operating at three days a week. Photo / Dean Taylor
Just 16.9 per cent of Waipā's eligible population is fully vaccinated, below the average for the Waikato region, and 37.8 per cent have received their first vaccination.
The Waikato District Health Board released the Covid-19 vaccination statistics for the Waikato region today; they are all of as 9am on Tuesday, August 24.
Across the entire Waikato region, 19.4 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated, 39.3 per cent have received their first vaccination and a total of 200,349 vaccinations have been administered.
Currently, people aged 40 and over, and people within groups one, two and three can book in to receive their vaccination.
Tomorrow, people aged 30 and over can book in and from Wednesday, September 1 bookings open for anyone aged 12 and over.
As parents or guardians become eligible to book for a vaccination, they can also book in a vaccination for any 12 to 15-year-olds in their family.
"Parents and caregivers who have an existing appointment and want to bring their children along are asked to phone 0800 28 29 26 before coming along to check if the vaccination site has space to add your 12 to 15-year-old to the booking."
"There is no guarantee vaccination sites will be able to take extra family members alongside people who already have a booking as some sites are small."
Under alert level 4, vaccination centres may need to reduce capacity to adhere to social distancing measures and booked appointments may be postponed and made notifiable from bookmyvaccine, the Waikato DHB or healthcare providers.
The Te Awamutu Covid-19 community vaccination centre opened two weeks ago and, despite the district's vaccination rate falling under the regional average, it is only currently operating on Wednesday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Waikato Covid-19 vaccine programme lead Maree Munro said the site is open only three times a week while they build their vaccination workforce. It will then be open six days a week.
The site is able to vaccinate up to 250 people a day.
"By getting vaccinated, people will protect themselves, play their part in protecting their family, friends and wider community and help to support official decisions around opening up the country further," says Maree.
Across the Waikato region, 1350 Covid-19 tests were processed on Monday, August 23.
There are two Covid-19 testing centres in Hamilton, one at Claudelands Event Centre and the other at Founders Theatre but people are also able to get tested at designated general practices.
In Te Awamutu, people can be tested at Mahoe Medical or the Te Awamutu Medical Centre but an appointment must be made.
It is advised to call Healthline (0800 358 5453) first and they will advise what to do next.
When going along to a Covid-19 testing appointment, the Waikato DHB recommends having your National Health Number Index handy to speed up the timeframe.
