Covid-19 coronavirus: Rest home vaccine delay causing anxiety and frustration

Just the facts - A closer look at the Covid-19 vaccine being rolled out across Aotearoa. How it works, why we need it and who developed it. Video / NZ Herald

When Peter Donnelly saw his 75-year-old brother Michael - who lives with Parkinson's disease in an Auckland rest home - grow more and more anxious waiting to receive his Covid-19 vaccine, he knew he had to do something.

After two months with no answers, Donnelly decided to take his brother out of the West Harbour Gardens rest home and take him to the Westgate vaccination centre on Friday.

Fortunately, Michael - whose skull is partially plastic following two major brain haemorrhages - was able to get his vaccine and leave within 30 minutes.

Michael's is one of multiple stories which indicate there are delays for rest homes in getting their residents - some of New Zealand's most at-risk people to the virus - vaccinated.

Michael (left), who has Parkinson's disease, had been growing more and more anxious as they wait for a vaccine grew longer, until late last week. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Donnelly, who was vaccinated on the same day as his brother, said the service at the vaccination centre was excellent - staff even moved his brother up the queue because of his condition.

However, Donnelly was very critical of the vaccine rollout to rest homes - suggesting it would create further anxiety about the vaccine, as it had done for his brother.

"Well [Michael] knows that he's not in a good condition, he's knows he's in a rest home and he felt that they would receive some priority and then hearing nothing, all those things lead to anxiety especially when you're elderly, frail."

Donnelly said he had sympathy for rest home operators trying to secure the vaccine for their residents in a system which was clearly behind schedule.

"Everybody over 65 was supposed to be getting the jab by the end of May... it's not good enough."

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Earlier this month, a relative of a resident at Auckland's Rosedale Village care facility in Albany contacted the NZ Herald, frustrated that vaccinations scheduled in the first week of May had been cancelled with no new date confirmed.

Ultimate Care Group manages Rosedale Village and almost 20 other care facilities across the country. Group nurse director Carole Kaffes believed the initial vaccination date was scrapped due to a shortage of vaccinators.

Kaffes empathised with family who wanted answers and said she had expected better from the planned rollout to rest homes.

"I can understand that level of concern [from families] and most aged care providers, we've sort of been frustrated at the level of information coming out.

"Let's just say we had anticipated by now that we would have been much further ahead than the position we find ourselves in."

Kaffes said vaccinations at the Albany facility were expected this week. She said in some areas such as Nelson, first doses were delivered to rest homes about two months ago and they were expecting their second dose this week.

She said she was not aware of how the delays had affected vaccine uptake.

Ambridge Rose owner and chief executive Allan Sargeant manages three rest homes in Auckland. In April, he spoke about frustrations with the vaccine rollout to rest homes, calling it "shambolic".

Speaking to the Herald on Friday, Sargeant said he had finally confirmed vaccination dates for his facilities on May 31 and June 2. However, he said frustration for rest home operators was still evident.

Two Auckland rest home operators referenced their frustration at how long the vaccine rollout to rest homes had taken. Photo / Supplied

He described how poor communication had interfered with the delivery of the influenza vaccine, saying if he had waited to do the Covid vaccine first - as initially instructed - residents might not have received their flu vaccine until July, two months later than usual.

Sargeant questioned whether a shortage of vaccinators or vaccines was the cause of the delays.

"If the United Kingdom can get through [about half] of their population, what's going wrong here?

"Do we have enough vaccinators or not, do we have enough vaccines or not."

Ambridge Rose owner and chief executive Allan Sargeant. Photo / Supplied

Sargeant's criticisms were not of DHB staff and those on the ground, but of Government officials organising the rollout.

Covid-19 minister Chris Hipkins said most DHBs were meeting their vaccination rollout plans and those in rest homes who had not been vaccinated, would be soon.

A spokesperson for the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre, which heads the vaccine rollout in Auckland, said 34 of Auckland's 181 aged residential care facilities had received their first dose visits since April 23, when such facilities were first visited.

The more than 20 vaccinators with the aged residential care outreach programme had focused on south Auckland initially before looking elsewhere.

"We appreciate that some people may feel frustrated that the programme has not yet reached their facilities and that this can create anxiety, we are working to ramp up the programme and ask for patience as the programme continues to move to all parts of the city."

When asked for national statistics on how many aged care facilities had received first dose visits, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said they were unable to provide the data before edition time.