Covid 19 coronavirus: unused vaccines offered to nearby businesses in Christchurch

By Eleisha Foon, RNZ

Some people are skipping the vaccine queue in Christchurch, giving leftover shots to people who work near vaccination clinics.

The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) has said it is to avoid waste but, with frontline healthcare workers being prioritized for spares in other regions, it has left local physicians furious.

Canterbury doctors said they were disappointed that they were not prioritized and “in the dark” about how the vaccine rollout works.

Christchurch GP Dr. Angus Chambers, who runs a medical clinic in Riccarton, said it was “disappointing” and that he still had no idea when he would get the vaccine.

“I think it is a terrible system failure that we have failed to do this. It is not a good example of partnership in the healthcare system and it seems to trivialize or minimize the risks our workforce faces.”

Christchurch began its vaccine rollout with approximately seven clinics located in Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities and at the airport.

The Pfizer vaccine must be used within six hours and cannot be moved to another location after it has been brought to room temperature and diluted.

In a statement, CDHB Executive Leader for Covid-19 Response Ralph La Salle confirmed that unused doses were offered to nearby businesses.

“On one occasion, on Sunday, March 7, at the end of the day, we had three doses of vaccine left due to three people not attending the previously booked vaccination appointment. Due to the remote location of the clinic and the delay on a Sunday in the afternoon, and due to the fact that the vaccine could not be transferred, the three doses were offered to a local company near the vaccination clinic. “

He said there is a “contingency plan to avoid wasting any vaccine supply that will soon expire.”

Dr. Vanessa Weenink said that seemed to be just an excuse for poor planning.

“If they had to randomly search for people nearby, they didn’t have a list on short notice. We have clinics that work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Workers can be contacted at any time and the Riccarton Clinic is 10 -15 minutes from the airport where the vaccination clinic is, so I think it’s actually a red herring. “

He wanted the DHB to collect contact details for healthcare workers and availability in case there were additional doses.

“I hope they have a detailed list of names and numbers soon. That’s the kind of thing I thought would have been going on anyway.”

Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield said replacement vaccines had been given to people outside of the vaccine priority plan since the start of the program, to avoid waste.

On the first weekend of vaccination of border workers, some health workers were vaccinated with spare parts.

Dr. Chambers said that there were a large number of health care personnel who were not working seven days a week and could easily be called on short notice to come out for a dose.

“I would like to see some certainty. I would like to know what is expected of me as a general practitioner in terms of delivering the program. As a person facing the risk of contracting the disease, I would like to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

According to the government’s implementation plan, a total of two million people are expected to get vaccinated for the first time in four months.

The government plans to have 50 vaccination centers up and running early next week. Some 50,000 people have already received their first injection.

MIQ border workers and their families are expected to have been heavily vaccinated by the end of March.

Vaccination of the second group, New Zealand frontline health workers and people living in “high-risk environments” such as nursing homes, has already started.

Other priority populations are expected to start getting vaccinated from May, and the rest of New Zealand’s population, around two million people, can expect to start getting vaccinated from July.

– RNZ