Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Bleak festive season for unvaccinated Northland DHB staff made redundant

Northland DHB has terminated the contracts of 46 staff who did not get their first dose of the Covid vaccination.

Forty-six Northland District Health Board staff could have a bleak festive season after they have had their jobs terminated for failing to get their first dose of the Covid vaccination.

The latest figures from all district health boards show that 16 of the 46 who lost their jobs in Northland were nurses, five midwives, and 25 others including doctors and other medical staff.

Numbers less than three in any category have been included in the other category for privacy reasons.

A further 11 NDHB staff have resigned and 32 have been stood down, including those who have applied for a medical exemption or are waiting for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

This does not include people who have been issued notices of termination, or whose resignations have been accepted by the Northland DHB.

Of the 32 that have been stood down, 15 are nurses, three are doctors and the rest categorised as "others".

All DHB staff were required to have had their first Covid vaccination by 11.59pm on November 15 under the Government's Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order.

Lead DHB chief executive Rosemary Clements said the number of unvaccinated staff unable to work at DHBs has reduced by almost 300 over the past month across the country. No figures were available for the Northland DHB.

Clements said 61 staff at DHBs stood down have received the AstraZeneca injection since it became available on November 29 and have been able to return to work.

Others will have opted to have the Pfizer vaccine and a small number of people received medical exemptions.

Nationally, 226 people remain stood down, 140 have resigned and 814 have had their employment terminated.

These figures include 44 doctors, 418 nurses and 72 midwives – compared with 52 doctors, 518 nurses, and 90 midwives a month ago.

Clements said DHBs have terminated employment where no other alternative or redeployment options could be found.

''This step has been taken when staff have confirmed they will not be vaccinated. DHBs are complying fully with all employment law requirements and we have engaged and agreed with health sector unions on the processes we are following,'' she said.

She said DHBs put service delivery mitigations in place well over a month ago, if needed, to minimise any impact to services. These included careful staff rostering, and close monitoring of any areas where there may be some staff shortage, she said.

"Our absolute focus continues to be on ensuring continuity of patient care."

One new Covid 19 case was reported in Northland from Friday and Monday. The case is in Hikurangi. They are still being interviewed to work out where they contracted Covid and identify any contacts.

However, NDHB said one new case was notified in Kaiwaka yesterday. As this was outside of the reporting time period, it will be reported in today's Ministry of Health figures for Northland. This person is linked to an existing case and has been isolating.

There's also a new detection in Whangārei's wastewater, following an earlier negative result. More samples are being taken from these and other areas this week for analysis.

There were also three new locations of interest in Northland added over the weekend.

Kauri Coast TOP 10 Holiday Park Dargaville, from 2pm on Saturday, December 18, to 10am on Sunday, December 19; Selwyn Park Dargaville, on December 18 from 11am - 1pm; and Lake Kaiiwi, Kai Iwi Lakes Rd, Dargaville, on December 19 from 11am - 1 pm.

If you were at any of these sites at the relevant times you should self-monitor for Covid-19 symptoms for 10 days after you were exposed. If symptoms develop, get a test and stay at home until you get a negative test result.