Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson announces shingles infection, urges vaccination

Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson has announced she is suffering from shingles. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson has announced she is suffering from shingles, saying it’s causing “unbelievable pain”.

Shingles are a viral infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) reactivation, which also causes chickenpox. It can be reactivated by triggers including ageing, illness and stress.

The shingles rash or blisters occur on one side of the body, most commonly the torso, but the disease can affect other areas such as the face and scalp.

Shingles can be intensely painful and can affect sleep and the ability to do daily activities.

In a post on her Facebook page, Simpson confirmed the disease, adding, ”At the risk of inciting a whole lot of anti-vaxers, please get immunised.”

“Feel as if I have a hedgehog taped to my face. Unbelievable pain, not constant but when it comes ...,” she wrote, along with a weary face emoji.

Simpson was not at today’s governing body council meeting in person but she beamed in remotely.

When the Herald asked Simpson how she was feeling, she texted that she was “good with work”.

“Knocked off some exciting initiatives and still have some to go,” she wrote.

Simpson is mulling a run for the Auckland mayoralty in this year’s local elections.

“I have not yet made a decision about my future. I am focused on my job and working with my colleagues and the mayor to deliver on what we’ve promised,” she told the Herald on Monday.

“The mayor and I continue to hold constructive conversations.”

But Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is reportedly starting to lose patience with his deputy over whether she will challenge him.

One insider said if Simpson needs another week or two to reach a decision, the mayor is okay with that.

But the insider said the process cannot go on forever and if the speculation starts to affect the council’s governance, the mayor would be forced to appoint a new deputy.

“The best case for everyone is that the deputy accepts where public opinion is, and the current team keeps working together the way it has pretty well for the last two and a half years.

“But if the deputy mayor stays unresolved for too much longer, then the mayor will have to do a bit of a reshuffle. A deputy mayor can’t be seen not to support the mayor, at least in public,” said the insider.

Nominations for the local body elections close on August 1. Postal voting opens on September 9, and the polls close at noon on October 11.

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