So you've had your shot, bro - what does Super Saturday have to do with you? Photo / Getty Images
So you've had your shot, bro - what does Super Saturday have to do with you? Photo / Getty Images
OPINION
Welcome to Super Saturday. Today, New Zealand rallies for a day of vaccination action.
Widespread sectors of the community are coming together to incentivise people to get the jab and help push the country towards a level of immunisation where life can regain some of its normalcy.
This isa day where we hope to find those who are hesitant, who just haven't gotten around to it, who have been misinformed, who didn't really care - and help them feel safe and celebrated in making a decision to get a shot.
It may feel like the community is divided into anti-vaxxers and pro-vaxxers but there is a lot of grey area in the middle.
I heard about one woman who came to a vaccination event in the Bay of Plenty recently.
She was scared and confused so she had waited as long as she could to get the vaccine, but had realised she could wait no longer. People like her are still out there and able to be reached.
Those of us who are already vaccinated may wonder what the point of Super Saturday is for us?
Firstly, if you had your first jab at least three weeks ago, you can get your second today.
Studies have shown that the first dose needs at least 21 days to develop the immune response, which will be strengthened by the second.
While leaving a longer gap between doses has been found to provide a better immune response overall, it also comes with a higher risk of catching the virus before full vaccination is achieved.
A six-week interval was the advice when there was no Delta in the community, but things have changed.
Auckland is seeing high new case numbers each day (65 yesterday), and there has already been seepage of the virus into Waikato and Northland. The Bay, Coromandel, Christchurch and more have also had close calls.
The risk is more present with Delta around, so the Government has revised the advice to three weeks.
But what's Super Saturday for those of us among the 61 per cent of eligible Kiwis who are already fully vaccinated?
We've done our bit for the team of 5 million, but there is one more thing we can do to help: Have a conversation with a loved one who has not been vaccinated.
This is not an exercise in persuasion or confrontation. You don't need to rebut every false claim, hit them over the head with an epidemiology textbook or drag them by the ear to the nearest clinic.
The experts recommend a kinder approach. Maybe you can offer a ride or babysitting while they pop out. If they have concerns, you can hear them out and try to bring their focus to the things you have in common and care about, the things that will make the jab worth it.
For the vaccinated, Super Saturday should also be one other thing: A celebration of what we have already achieved together. Of the people who fear needles but still got jabbed. Of the busy workers who made the time. Of people in Auckland and elsewhere in lockdown who faced extra risk just leaving their homes for a vaccination. Of the people who queued.
Most of all, of those who were scared and did it anyway, for all of us.
