Covid 19 coronavirus: Vaccines could be given in stadiums, schools, workplaces, pharmacies and GP clinics, says Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins

New Zealand’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign could be fueled by megaclinics in stadiums, and inoculation will also occur in GP clinics, pharmacies, and likely large workplaces and on school and sports fields.

In an extensive and exclusive interview with the Weekend Herald, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins also revealed:

• People who refuse vaccination will not be entered in a new vaccination registry or in any other database.

• New conversations with the “overwhelmingly enthusiastic” business community show that many want to offer vaccination on the spot.

• Officials are closely monitoring efforts abroad to establish “vaccine passport” systems, to “make sure that what we are doing is compatible with any international regime that may be developed.”

The largest vaccination campaign in Aotearoa’s history started yesterday, when some of the trained nurses who will administer the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine received the injection at Auckland’s Jet Park Hotel, which has acted as a quarantine facility for a pandemic that closed our borders and claimed millions of lives around the world.

Starting today, vaccinations will be administered to frontline workers in controlled isolation and quarantine facilities, and who work on or near the border. They include cleaners, nurses, security personnel, customs and border officials, airline personnel, and hotel workers.

The next phase will cover the people they live with and then the groups deemed most in need or at risk.

The general population is likely to be offered vaccination in the second half of the year, and Hipkins said planning was underway to “scale to a fairly significant number of different places where they can be vaccinated.”

The practices of general practitioners would be used, as would trained pharmacists. Covid-19 tests had shown that some people were reluctant to go to a GP, because they associate doing so with a fee, even though there was no charge.

“We know there is almost a subconscious reluctance, which may not exist with a pharmacist. So we are working to make sure they are available in pharmacies.”

Temporary “community testing centers” for Covid-19 testing had proven popular, with a facility in Eden Park, and similar models were being considered for when vaccines could be widely offered.

“There are stadiums, sports arenas, those kinds of places, even schools, that’s the kind of thing that we could be looking at. That planning work is underway, and when we’re ready to go to the larger implementation, that’s when we’ll start. to share more details about that. “

Could that mean vaccines administered at Eden Park, Mt Smart, or Wellington’s Sky Stadium?

“Yes. The key you want is for people to get there easily (public transportation, good parking), you want to have enough space, so they can spread out while they wait, and then the ability to leave quickly.”

Another consideration is whether such venues would use dating or rather a visiting approach.

“We might ask people to register an intention, so instead of making a specific reservation, we get them to say, ‘I intend to go to this place right now,’ so that we can manage the labor and vaccine supplies.. “

The details of the vaccines, and when the crucial follow-up dose is due, will be stored in a new database, the Covid Immunization Registry, which will eventually be expanded to cover all immunizations and replace a very outdated system.

There would be a way for people to check the status of their vaccines, Hipkins said, and if they are administered by a GP, they could call the office and check.

About 20 to 30 percent of New Zealanders “hesitate to vaccinate,” and are confident that a significant number will eventually choose to get vaccinated.

“I think initially we won’t be [recording those who decline] on an individualized level, but we will work with employers and community groups where we know there are higher degrees of vaccinations, “he said.

“Their hesitation is not because they do not believe in vaccines, it is just that they are concerned about the novelty of the vaccine, which has developed rapidly. They just want to know that it is safe, and as they see more people receive it and see which is for sure, they will present themselves. “

Vaccinations will be free, but evidence from other free health initiatives shows that some people may find it difficult to get off work to keep appointments or find money for transportation or childcare.

Hipkins, Health Minister Andrew Little and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with Auckland employers last week, saying they were “overwhelmingly excited” to help their employees get vaccinated.

“We know that many large workplaces will seek to get vaccinated on site … at the end of the day, it is not a huge time commitment; we are talking about half an hour per dose, that is, one hour in total during the course of a month.

“I think we can do this. I think people will want the vaccine. I think employers will want them to get it. I’m pretty optimistic about it.”

When asked if the vaccination status of returnees to New Zealand would be added to the vaccination record, Hipkins pointed to the efforts of the International Air Transport Association to allow people to use a “travel pass” app to store and test information about vaccines and tests.

“We have not yet made a decision on whether New Zealand could do something and what our criteria can be.

“But I think it is quite realistic to expect countries to start introducing vaccine prerequisites before traveling. There is work going on internationally, and our Mfat [Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade] and transportation officials are involved in this, to make sure that what we are doing is compatible with any international regime that may be developed. “

About 60,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in the country Monday morning, enough to cover about 30,000 people, since the vaccine requires two doses, administered approximately three weeks apart.

The Government has agreements to buy four different vaccines and aims to vaccinate 90% of the population. Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield has said that 70 percent vaccination would be the minimum necessary for herd immunity, depending on factors including the efficacy of the vaccine.

Hipkins said efficacy was the “big question mark” in terms of setting a goal for herd immunity.

“I’m not going to set a hard hitting target, because right now we don’t have enough information to know exactly how it’s going to break.”