Covid 19 Omicron: Just over 500 jabs needed to hit 90 per cent first dose in Northland

Jan O'Hagan, registered nurse of 40 years, has done 105 vaccinations in one day - her record so far as a NDHB vaccinator based at Semenoff Stadium. Photo / Michael Cunningham

There are only 543 jabs to go before Northland reaches the long-awaited 90 per cent first dose target – and while this might be a reason to celebrate, a Māori health leader says there is more to be considered in the Covid response.

It's been slow going for Northland in the national race to vaccinate against Covid-19 with Tai Tokerau remaining the last region to hit 90 per cent first dose.

The Ministry of Health has rounded up the region's vaccination data to 90 per cent on its public records, however, Northland is currently sitting at 89.67 per cent.

Late last year, Northland fell behind Tairāwhiti which was the latest region to reach 90 per cent first dose just before Christmas.

Now, three months after Auckland first cracked that milestone, Northlanders can finally see the finishing line.

Earlier predictions showed that Northland would reach the vaccination target by January.

But we might have to wait another two to three weeks, the Northland DHB indicated.

To reach 90 per cent fully vaccinated, another 5468 people still have to get their shots.

For Ngāti Kuri and Northland District Health Board chairman Harry Burkhardt reaching 90 per cent wasn't everything in the region's Covid response:

"The notion of 90 per cent was a government notion.

"From an iwi and hapū perspective, we see a target of 95 per cent as appropriate."

There was "a whole sweep of responses" to protect from Covid-19, including getting tamariki vaccinated and ensuring that whānau is prepared if the coronavirus enters their household.

Eighty-five per cent of Māori have had their first Pfizer dose.

Northland District Health Board chair Harry Burkhardt said funding from central government to lift vaccination rates was appreciated. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A $4.6m boost from central Government was rolled out in late October to lift Māori vaccination rates in Northland.

Burkhardt said the extra funding was "appreciated, appropriate and well-targeted" and helped improve vaccination rates among tangata whenua.

The Māori health leader witnessed a "maturing process to approach the pandemic" within the community, the health system and local businesses, he said.

There was a collective responsibility to keep everyone safe.

Since late November, 46.7k booster doses were administered in Northland, and 17 per cent of 19.5k children of whom 54 per cent are Māori have been vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health reminded the public of the seriousness of the current outbreak:

"Given the growing number of Omicron cases, we expect many future cases and their related locations of interest will also likely be due to the Omicron variant," a ministry spokesperson said.

"The Ministry of Health wants everyone to treat either Delta cases or Omicron cases with the same seriousness, and follow public health advice."

The ministry said the public health response shouldn't be slowed down by waiting time for genome sequencing test results.

"Whole-genome sequencing is not performed on every case, and when it is, it can also take some time for whole-genome sequencing to determine a case's variant."

The ministry reminded the public to use the NZ Covid Tracer App or to manually record movements to help quickly determine new locations of interest.