Hawke's Bay firefighters say they are prepared for any emergency as the vaccine mandate kicks in. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hawke's Bay firefighters say they are prepared for any emergency as the vaccine mandate kicks in. Photo / Paul Taylor
Fewer than half a dozen firefighters in Hawke's Bay have not complied with a Government order to be fully vaccinated and can no longer respond to emergency incidents.
Hawke's Bay Fire District manager Ken Cooper told Hawke's Bay Today the firefighters were being "worked with" to ascertain the next stepsfor them.
"We don't want to lose them, so we are working with them to see what we can do," he said.
"We are confident that we will continue to respond in Hawke's Bay, and keep our communities safe."
Cooper said around 13,500 firefighters across New Zealand were required to be fully-vaccinated to do their roles under the Public Health Order, including around 11,500 volunteers.
In Hawke's Bay, there are currently 68 career firefighting staff and 829 volunteers, as at January, 2021.
The total number of unvaccinated firefighters in the region was not provided to Hawke's Bay Today to protect individual privacy but Cooper said it was fewer than half a dozen.
Hawke's Bay Fire District manager Ken Cooper says the firefighting team will cope in emergencies. Photo / Supplied
Nationally, as at January 25, 96 per cent of fire service employees and 91 per cent of volunteer firefighters covered under the order had had their first and second Covid-19 vaccinations, he said.
One per cent of employees and 1 per cent of volunteers had had their first vaccination, and 3 per cent of employees, and 7 per cent of volunteers were either unvaccinated or had not provided their vaccination status.
"Those who have not had their first and second Covid vaccinations will not be responding to incidents.
"We are working closely with this group of people on what the next steps are for them."
The Government's Health Order was recently updated to include a requirement for booster vaccinations by certain dates, Cooper said.
"We are now working with our people to ascertain and record their booster vaccination status."
He said contingency plans were in place so fire and emergency services could respond to incidents.
"On any given day we could get multiple incidents occurring at the same time. That's what we plan for and why we have contingency plans in place."
He said he was confident they could adapt as needed.
