Covid 19 coronavirus: No mass vaccination events planned for South Island, Ministry of Health says

The first mass vaccination event in New Zealand held at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau last month. Photo / Ministry of Health

By Samantha Gee, RNZ

There are no plans for a mass Covid-19 vaccination event in the South Island, the Ministry of Health says.

Following the first mass vaccination event in Manukau, Covid-19 vaccination operations group manager Astrid Koornneef says nothing of similar scale is planned for the South Island.

District health boards were offering a range of clinics and events to ensure people could receive their vaccinations easily, she said.

The next large-scale event will be held in South Auckland in September, a follow-up for people who attended the first event to receive their second dose.

Large vaccination clinics are also being held for thousands of residents in Stratford, while plans are being made for a three-day vaccination festival in Wellington in October.

Canterbury District Health Board's Covid-19 response manager Ralph La Salle confirmed it had no plans for a mass vaccination event in Christchurch and was confident the required volume of vaccinations could be delivered through clinics across the region.

The first mass vaccination event in New Zealand held at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau. Photo / Ministry of Health

Last Wednesday, it had 43 clinics including four mobile clinics, with that number increasing daily as more pharmacies and general practices came on board.

It planned to deliver more than 29,000 vaccinations this week and expected that figure to increase to 45,000 vaccines per week by the end of September.

As of 8 August, more than 2.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered. Of those, 1.38 million were first doses and 820,000 were second doses.

Data up to 1 August showed 168,321 doses had been delivered across Canterbury, which was 102 percent of its target - 3836 doses ahead of plan.

Further north, Nelson Marlborough was the best performing district health board in the South Island at 133 percent of its target, having delivered 83,980 doses - 20,751 more than scheduled.

On the West Coast, 16,138 vaccines had been administered, 2402 less than planned - which at 87 percent of its target made it the worst performing district health board in the country.

The Southern District was also behind at 91 percent of its target, having delivered 129,305 vaccines against a plan of 142,344.

South Canterbury remained just ahead of target at 103 percent, having delivered 29,392 doses - 849 more than planned.