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AP
A vile one from the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which New Zealand has started administering. (File photo)
Border workers from Auckland to Christchurch will be vaccinated this week and quarantine and isolation workers managed in the capital will receive their first vaccinations today.
Thirty-seven border workers were the first in Wellington to take their Covid-19 hit at the Grand Mercure on Monday, as the nationwide rollout reaches its third day.
The government plans to vaccinate the border workforce of 12,000 people for three weeks as part of the mass vaccination program. Sufficient doses to vaccinate 30,000 people landed by air from Belgium in Auckland last Monday morning.
Vaccinations started on Saturday in Auckland at the Jet Park Hotel. As of Sunday night, 163 managed border and isolation and quarantine workers had been vaccinated.
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Vaccine Rollout Officially Begins, and Border Workers Take Beats
* Covid-19: First batch of vaccines administered in New Zealand, with 25 healthcare workers receiving injections
* Covid-19: What happens if front-line workers reject the vaccine?
Royal New Zealand Air Force group captain Peter Johnson said he was not aware of any staff members who had refused to receive the vaccine. But if staff could continue to work at a facility in case they refused, it would be between themselves and their employer, he added.
Marie Ryan-Hobowska, a nurse educator and vaccinator for the Coastal and Capital District Health Board for managed isolation facilities, couldn’t say how many border workers had been vaccinated in Wellington as of Monday afternoon.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and joint head of isolation and managed quarantine (MIQ), Megan Main, encouraged all border personnel to get vaccinated.
“As someone with an engineering background, I believe in science, facts and data. I am confident this vaccine is safe and our MIQ workforce must trust it as well,” she said.
“I really encourage our MIQ workers to seize the opportunity to be at the beginning of the national deployment. They follow really strict infection prevention protocols, both at home and at work, and live much of their lives in a level environment. 4. This vaccine will give them another layer of protection on top of that. “
Vaccinations continue tomorrow in Auckland ports and will begin in Christchurch on Wednesday. Hamilton and Rotorua workers will be punished on Friday and Saturday.
