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MIQ and border workers in Christchurch will receive their first Covid-19 puncture in two weeks in what the prime minister has described as “New Zealand’s largest vaccination campaign.”
Jacinda Ardern and Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins announced Friday that the first batch of the Pfizer and BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine would arrive ahead of schedule next week.
Border personnel in Auckland would be the first to be vaccinated, starting February 20.
Dedicated public health personnel would deliver the vaccine to about 12,000 border workers at their workplaces over the next two to three weeks.
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One of the challenges would be keeping the Pfizer vaccine at temperatures between -80 degrees Celsius and -60 ° C most of the time.
Two freezers had been moved to Christchurch to support the South Island deployment, and they would be ready in two weeks after extensive testing, a spokeswoman for the Health Ministry said.
RICKY WILSON / Stuff
Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed that the first Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in New Zealand next week.
Domestic contacts of border workers would be the next priority group for the vaccine and they will be asked to travel to immunization centers for the vaccine.
Healthcare and essential care workers were expected to receive vaccinations starting in April, along with the elderly and those with pre-existing health problems.
The vaccine would be available to the general population from the second half of the year, but there were few details on how this part of the rollout would be handled.
An additional 2,000-3,000 certified employees would be needed to administer a vaccine and with specific training on the Covid-19 vaccine.
Royal New Zealand College of GP Medical Director Bryan Betty said GPs were concerned about how they would cope with the huge increase in workload and were seeking a plan at the ministry.
The annual flu vaccination program is likely to begin in mid-to-late April and could potentially still continue when Covid-19 vaccines arrive.
Other concerns included having enough refrigerator space for Covid-19 vaccines and how they would fund additional staff and relevant training, Betty said.
“We are looking for clarity sooner rather than later in terms of how this is all going to work out.”
SUPPLIED
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Medical Director and Porirua GP Dr Bryan Betty says members are concerned about the support they will receive with the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health said health providers and district health boards (DHB) would be responsible for employing vaccinators.
She said the ministry would work with them to provide any additional support that is needed.
The vaccine launch was a “massive logistical exercise” and the ministry was still working out the details, he said.
Betty said that the healthcare providers involved in the implementation expected clear communication about the support that would be provided, but acknowledged that it was a “very complex task.”
Joseph Johnson / Stuff
The Christchurch MIQ and border workers will receive a Covid-19 vaccine injection in two weeks.
Possible vaccination sites included pop-up centers, large-scale stadiums, and self-service events.
Pegasus Health CEO Vince Barry said he had a lot of questions about the overall rollout, but was confident the Canterbury health system would cope with it.
Prioritizing certain groups for the vaccine would give healthcare providers time to plan for the second phase of the rollout, which would not begin before July, he said.
Christchurch GP and New Zealand Medical Association general practice representative Vanessa Weenink said the rollout would be “massive” for GPs.
He knew the ministry was doing a lot of work, but he hadn’t received any details yet.
“As far as I know, how we will do it has not been fully defined.”
Her practice, the Papanui Medical Center, had calculated that a full-time nurse would need 270 days to vaccinate all enrolled patients, if each vaccination took five minutes.
“We would have to employ additional staff if we want to continue doing our normal work because our nurses are [already] really busy. “
