Covid 19 coronavirus: Jo Raphael: Are we happy with the vaccine rollout?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern received her first Covid vaccine with little fuss at Manurewa Marae, saying it was "pretty pain-free". Video / Adam Pearse

OPINION

There's a lot going on in the world right now.

Melbourne, Sydney and Fiji are wrestling with Covid-19 outbreaks.

Despite the successful rollout of the vaccine in the UK, the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus is seeing an upswing.

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We're doing pretty well here in Aotearoa, in my opinion, however, I'm a little concerned about the rate at which the vaccines are being rolled out.

District health boards are being charged with the unenviable task of implementing the Government's rollout plan, all at the mercy of the availability of the vaccine.

The vaccination programme is being described as the biggest in our history.

PM Jacinda Ardern received her first Covid-19 jab on Friday, revealing it was "pretty pain-free" and on the same day she outlined the staggered age bands for the rollout of the vaccine to the wider population.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern receives her first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination. Photo / NZME

My age band in Group 4 "16 years and over" does not have a set date for eligibility due to the timings on vaccine deliveries, which I can understand, and I'm more than happy to wait for my turn.

But meanwhile, I know several people in Group 3 "65 years and over" who are eligible now, who have still not had their first vaccination.

Ardern has confirmed that the next five weeks will be focused on the over-65s.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board Covid-10 incident controller Trevor Richardson told NZME last week Group 3 - those over 65 and those with relevant health conditions - was a large group and the board would need to pace its delivery.

"To date, approximately 11 per cent of our region's eligible population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine."

I'm not an expert in infectious diseases and I understand the logic of making sure our most vulnerable get the vaccine first to keep them protected from a possible outbreak, but I believe there is something to said about the argument to vaccinate the "super-spreaders".

These are younger people who congregate in large numbers, at university and school campuses, concerts, festivals and other gatherings – surely this age band needs consideration for vaccines as early as possible?

Mass vaccination events are being organised for certain communities.

In communities such as Te Kaha in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Russell in Northland, the vaccine has been offered to all age bands.

Richardson says the all-of-population approach was more practical than breaking up the population into sub-groups.

I believe vaccination teams should be going into large workplaces and schools, reducing the need to book appointments and travel to clinics.

Make it as easy as possible for people to say yes.

It has been reported that there are more than 340,000 people who are fully vaccinated, yet there are 5 million of us.

The Government is happy about the rate of the vaccine rollout but are we?

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