Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Whanganui DHB delivers 50,000th Covid-19 vaccine

50,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have now been administered by the Whanganui DHB. Photo / NZME

The Whanganui District Health Board has officially delivered 50,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine - close to half of all required doses in the rollout.

The 50,000th dose of the vaccine was administered at 4.50pm on Wednesday at Te Pae Tata, a Ngāti Rangi-operated vaccine clinic in Ōhakune.

As at 8am on Thursday, the DHB's total vaccination tally stood at 50,139, equivalent to 45.3 per cent of the population that have received at least one dose.

While Wednesday saw more than 800 doses delivered across the Whanganui DHB catchment, it also marked the first day that anyone in the country over the age of 12 could book their vaccine appointment.

Appointments can be booked by visiting www.bookmyvaccine.nz, or calling 0800 28 29 26.

Testing for Covid-19 continued across the wider DHB region on the first day of alert level 3.

A total of 58 Covid-19 tests were completed by the DHB - the majority at the designated drive-through testing facility on the grounds of Whanganui Hospital.

The DHB continues to advise anyone who has symptoms of the virus, or who visited one of the hundreds of locations of interest across the country, to get a test.

Covid-19 testing centres

• Whanganui DHB Testing Centre, Whanganui Hospital (no appointment needed, 8am-5pm)
• The Space, Seddon St, Raetihi (no appointment needed, 9am-12 noon)
• Living Waters Medical Centre, Whanganui
• Te Oranganui, Te Waipuna Medical Centre, Whanganui
• Whanganui Accident and Medical, Whanganui
• Bulls Medical Centre, Bulls
• Stewart Street Surgery, Marton
• Taihape Health Centre, Taihape (10am-noon; this is by appointment only - call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 to register, and then call the practice for an appointment.)