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Dr. Bloomfield said the country will remain under Alert Level 3 for the preliminary two-week period to ensure there is no undetected community transmission.
“It’s not just about the number of cases or the pattern, but about people who take expectations about physical detachment and hygiene seriously, and don’t waste our advantage,” he said.
Dr. Bloomfield also referred to flu vaccination, noting that 451,000 people over the age of 65 have been vaccinated, which already exceeded the total number of vaccinations throughout the campaign last year within that demographic.
More Maori have been vaccinated in the group of people over 65 in the past five weeks than in the entire year of vaccination in 2019.
As of Monday, 1.4 million doses of the flu vaccine had been distributed to providers. As of April 30, 700,000 doses had been recorded in the National Immunization Registry as administered.
“By vaccinating as many New Zealanders as possible, particularly our older people and vulnerable New Zealanders, it reduces the chance that they will get the flu and then suffer the type of illness that will take them to the hospital,” said Dr. Boomfield.
It reminded Kiwis that the flu shot does not provide any protection against COVID-19.
Dr. Bloomfield also extended his thanks to the media.
“The important role it has played in the past three months in supporting our collective efforts to keep the public informed, to ask the important questions and the difficult questions, and to ensure that we are held accountable for answering them.”
