Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: More than 200 police officers yet to get first Covid-19 vaccine dose, some face being stood down

More than 200 police officers are yet to get their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

All constabulary staff, authorised officers and recruits must have had their first shot by the end of the weekend.

As of Friday, 98 per cent of the 10,500 staff covered by the mandate have had one vaccination.

Police said it expected to stand down a small number of staff on Monday.

Discussions will be held with the workers regarding redeployment, leave without pay or medical exemptions.

Meanwhile, firefighters had until the end of Friday to get both jabs.

File photo / RNZ

Fire and Emergency said as of Friday afternoon about 95 per cent of paid employees were fully vaccinated and nearly 2 per cent had had one dose.

Almost 90 per cent of volunteers were fully vaccinated and nearly 3 per cent were partially covered.

In November last year, there were 900 unvaccinated police staff.

Fire and Emergency said it was confident it would be able to continue to respond and keep communities safe.

About 80 per cent of the more than 10,000 firefighting staff in New Zealand are volunteers.

Last year Fire and Emergency tweeted that they would be responding to emergencies in all Covid-19 protection levels.

It said their staff on callouts would wear face coverings and practise physical distancing where possible.

🚦 New Zealand is now following the COVID Protection Framework (traffic lights). Whether we’re in red 🔴, orange 🟠 or green 🟢 – firefighters will be responding to emergencies, as always. pic.twitter.com/IJkfC5vC9V

— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) December 2, 2021