Silao Vaisola-Sefo, CEO of South Seas Healthcare, hopes to see more people get their booster shots this weekend. Video / Jed Bradley
New Zealand's Big Boost is underway and the country's top health official is confident we could have 100,000 Kiwis boosted daily.
As the expected surge of Omicron begins, director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told the Herald at least 50,000 daily boosters are expected in the comingdays, but he wants to see that figure double.
"It'd be great to crack some days up in the 80s, 90s, even crack 100,000, we can do that," Bloomfield said.
Last week, the Ministry of Health launched The Big Boost - a campaign encouraging eligible Kiwis to get their booster dose to further their protection against Omicron.
The Herald is keeping track of this weekend's booster numbers as part of the Big Boost campaign. Our vaccine tracker will be updated throughout Saturday and Sunday as Kiwis head out for their boosters in the fight against Omicron.
New Zealand registered its highest daily Covid tally yesterday, with 446 new community cases. It surpassed the previous record set the day before of 306 cases.
In response, vaccination providers across the country were resourced to stay open later to more people. People who were three months past their second dose and eligible for their booster had also been notified in a mass text/email initiative.
More than 100,000 Kiwis had been boosted across Wednesday and Thursday.
Bloomfield's target of 100,000 was aligned with the ambition of Super Saturday, a similar campaign which, in the end, saw more than 130,000 Kiwis get a vaccine in one day amid the Delta outbreak in October.
Super Saturday was New Zealand's only day of 100,000+ vaccinations. In 2022, the highest number of daily vaccinations recorded was 67,053.
To boost access, many regions had extended opening hours and added sites to their vaccinations programmes.
More than 130,000 Kiwis were vaccinated on Super Saturday in October last year. Photo / NZME
Auckland had more than 350 sites open, including the newly minted centre at the Cloud on the waterfront.
Northland, the only region yet to hit 90 per cent fully vaccinated, will host two Big Boost events today in Dargaville and Kerikeri, with further access for remote areas via mobile units.
Additional weekend booster clinics for essential workers will be held in Hawke's Bay this weekend, and Southern DHB has extended opening hours of its drive-through clinic in Dunedin.
Bloomfield said all efforts fed into the greater target of reaching 90 per cent of eligible Kiwis boosted by the end of February.
About 1.1 million people needed to get their booster in 17 days to reach 90 per cent by the end of the month - almost 65,000 per day.
"We're seeing ourselves continue to achieve in terms of our total vaccination rate with over 96 per cent first dose, cracking 95 per cent fully vaccinated, so I think there's no reason why we couldn't keep aspiring to get [boosters] as high as possible."
Of particular focus would be the Pasifika population, which had fallen behind all other ethnicities in recent weeks.
Bloomfield suspected reluctance might have been spawned out of fear of Omicron, reinforcing the need for local providers to collaborate on methods to attract whānau.
"That's what this week is about, those events that bring those providers, the churches, the community groups together to create a bit more of a focus.
"Only about two-thirds of over-65 Pacific have had the booster and that's a high risk group, so we're really keen to get a focus on them."
There will be a big push for New Zealand's Pasifika community to get boosted after levels have fallen behind other ethnicities. Photo / Dean Purcell
He was also hopeful the push for boosters would encourage more parents to vaccinate their children. About 43 per cent of Kiwi tamariki under 12 had received one paediatric dose.
Asked if further booster doses would be necessary in the coming months, Bloomfield said he wasn't yet certain but it seemed likely.
"At the moment, there's more speculation than science behind what might happen from here, but what I would say is there's always been this sense it would require regular boosters ... it may well be that there's need of a further booster even within a year."
In the long-term, Bloomfield said a Covid booster programme might reflect annual influenza vaccinations, should future vaccines not bestow longer immunity.
The booster was considered vital in protecting people against severe illness and becoming hospitalised after catching Omicron.
Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield wants to see 90 per cent of eligible Kiwis boosted by the end of February. Photo / NZME
Yesterday, there were 23 people in hospital with Covid-19 - almost double that of the day before (12).
The majority of yesterday's cases were in Auckland (340) with the rest in Northland (16), Waikato (48), Bay of Plenty (14), Lakes (13), Taranaki (1), Hutt Valley (7), Capital and Coast (4) and Southern (3).
Recently released locations of interest included the Queenstown Airport lounge and a Hamilton fitness centre.
People who were in the Koru lounge at Queenstown Airport on Tuesday, February 8 between 7.14am and 9.45am were being asked to self-isolate, get a test immediately and on the fifth day after the exposure.
Those at First Place Fitness in Te Rapa, Hamilton last Friday, February 4 between 4pm and 6.15pm were being asked to do the same.
Also on the list was the waiting area at Local Doctors on Dawson Road in Clover Park, Auckland. Anyone who was there between 1.30pm and 2.15pm on Monday, February 7 was advised to isolate, and get tested immediately.
New Zealand's 10 millionth vaccine was administered yesterday, a milestone welcomed by Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins.
"This is a major logistical achievement and the milestone is testament to the DHBs, hundreds of pharmacies, GPs, hauora, community providers and mobile clinics and other sites that have given the vaccine to everyone from our old to our young," he said.
