Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Busy start for booster shots in South Island

Southerners have queued to roll up their sleeves for a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, as the threat of Omicron looms.

Pharmacies and vaccination clinics reported they were flat out yesterday, after hundreds of thousands of people nationwide became eligible for the booster shot.

That resulted from a change of policy for people aged 18 and over, shifting the minimum interval between the second dose and the booster from six months to four months.

In Dunedin, a drive-through clinic run by Te Kaika in Victoria Rd, St Kilda, had jabbed 100 people by lunchtime yesterday.

It had previously given about 30 to 50 doses of the vaccine on a busy day, project manager Ellery Fruean said.

Pharmacies in Dunedin, Queenstown and Invercargill confirmed they had been kept busy, too.

Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has said speeding up the booster rollout is key to the response to Omicron.

Omicron has become the dominant variant of Covid-19 overseas, but not yet in New Zealand.

International evidence so far indicates it is highly infectious but may be milder than the Delta variant.

"The good news is that there is clear evidence that the Pfizer vaccine provides protection against Omicron," Dr Bloomfield said.

"We also know that a booster dose with Pfizer provides better protection against the Omicron variant than the two-dose course."

Among the southerners heeding his advice yesterday was Karla Pearce, of Dunedin.

"I just want to be protected for when Omicron comes — have all the protection that I can," she said.

Pearce was also wary of long Covid, which can have long-lasting effects.

Robert Dijkstra, of Dunedin, had just become eligible for the booster and decided to get it at the Te Kaika drive-through clinic immediately.

Unichem Mornington Pharmacy owner Keith Newton said people had responded to publicity about booster shots.

Pharmacy staff had also been flat out with the rest of their work after returning from public holidays, he said.

Receiving his third Covid-19 jab at a drive-through clinic in St Kilda, Dunedin, yesterday is Robert Dijkstra. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Roslyn Pharmacy pharmacist Sean Craig said yesterday morning there was a line of people out the door and Queenstown Pharmacy technician Dianne Chua said "quite a few" doses had been administered there.

Some pharmacies in the South had already adopted the four-month interval between the second dose and booster shot before the official implementation date of yesterday.

Some also indicated they did not intend to be part of the rollout for children aged 5-11, due to start on January 17, or they were undecided about getting involved.

WellSouth chief executive Andrew Swanson-Dobbs said he expected there would be sufficient coverage in the South for children once their programme had begun.

His advice for adults was to get the booster shot when eligible, as it shored up their defence against the virus.

Fruean, from Te Kaika, encouraged eligible adults to get their booster shots ahead of the start of the campaign for children, if possible.