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MINISTRY OF HEALTH / Supplied
On Thursday, 28 Waikato vaccinators received the Pfizer / BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
The Covid-19 immunization program has started in Waikato with a group of nurses from Hamilton the first to receive the vaccine.
At a dedicated Covid-19 vaccination center in Hamilton on Thursday afternoon, 28 vaccinators received the first of their two doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
Starting Friday, vaccinators will begin the workforce immunization process on-site at all isolation facilities managed by Waikato.
The first to receive the vaccine in Waikato was Public Health Nurse Dawn Tamati, who was honored to be the first.
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“I feel very privileged to be the first to receive the vaccine,” said Tamati.
“I really believe in vaccines, they are very important and I feel like I’m doing my part. Vaccines try to maintain our whānau, our hapu, our iwi and our communities well, and I feel like I’m doing it today. “
Leanne Smith administered the first injection and says it was “a great honor” to do so.
Ministry of Health
Ultra-cold freezers for storing Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine can go down to -80 degrees Celsius.
“It’s been such a long wait for something we all wanted and getting vaccinated is exciting. I was honored to be asked to be the first in Waikato to give the vaccine.”
He said that the arrival of the vaccine is an important milestone for the country and the region.
“We are making history, and it is something our whānau will talk about for many, many generations.”
The first stage of the vaccine launch includes border workers and the managed isolation and quarantine workforce, and their household contacts.
Ikimoke Tamaki-Takarei manages the cultural intervention for managed isolation facilities in the region and also received her first dose today.
He said that it is essential that border workers are the first line of protection for vulnerable communities and populations.
“As part of Covid-19 border control, it is our responsibility to keep our families safe. We go home to our families every night. I return home with my new mokopuna, so it is my responsibility to keep her safe, keep her my children safe, and my immediate family safe, “Tamaki-Takarei said.
“Many of our vulnerable whānau and kaumatua suffer from some kind of respiratory disease, so we have to be able to protect them with a vaccine.”
Home contacts of managed isolation workers will receive their vaccinations by appointment at the dedicated vaccination center.
