Covid 19 coronavirus: is the vaccine really free?

While the authorities define the details of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign, general practitioners hope that the blows will be free, unless a consultation is required.

Consultations aren’t usually necessary for a vaccine, so most people will be done by a nurse, says Dr. Bryan Betty, medical director of the Royal College of General Practitioners of New Zealand.

He hopes that the government will cover the time and equipment of the nurses.

“The understanding is that there will be no cost barriers to vaccinations, and this would be the expectation of GPs across the country,” he told the Herald.

Vaccines for the general public are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2021, in what has been called the largest large-scale vaccination campaign in New Zealand history.

The Government has announced that Covid-19 vaccines will be free and voluntary for everyone in the country, regardless of visa status.

“We have bought enough vaccines to cover all New Zealanders and make it free,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.

Border and Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) workers will be the first to be vaccinated starting this Saturday in Auckland, followed by their household contacts.

They include cleaners, nurses conducting MIQ health checks, security personnel, customs and border officials, airline personnel, and hotel workers.

The second group of people to receive the vaccine are healthcare and essential workers in the second quarter of the year.

In response to inquiries from the Herald, the Health Ministry says DHBs are leading this initial rollout, but general practices will play a key role in the general public phase.

Financing arrangements will be resolved closer to the date and GPs will have “resources to do this (vaccination) in a safe and timely manner,” a spokesperson said.

So far it has not been discussed whether the costs of visits will be funded, says Betty, but most vaccines should be one-time visits without a consultation.

“In terms of immunization implementation, I don’t think [consultations] it would be part of the funding, because that would be the patient’s decision to show up for a vaccine, “Betty said.

The country’s first batch of Covid-19 vaccines arrived on Monday.

Manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech, it is approved for use in New Zealand for persons 16 years of age and older. Those under 16 are not included for now because they were not part of the clinical trials.

New Zealand has purchase agreements for three other Covid-19 vaccines, made by Janssen, Noravax and AstraZeneca.