Lakes DHB infection prevention and control co-ordinator Victoria Smith receiving her first vaccine. Photo / Supplied
Lakes DHB infection prevention and control co-ordinator Victoria Smith receiving her first vaccine. Photo / Supplied
Receiving the second and final dose of the Covid-19 vaccine was "was like a party", for Victoria Smith.
Smith, a Lakes DHB infection prevention and control co-ordinator working across all three MIQ facilities in Rotorua, was one of the first in line to receive the vaccine.
"There was a senseof camaraderie amongst all of the staff who had it on the same day. The second vaccine was actually a lot of fun," she said.
The majority of managed isolation facility workers in Rotorua are now 95 per cent protected from Covid-19 after receiving both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The Lakes District Health Board Covid-19 immunisation rollout has seen more than 1000 vaccines administered since it launched on February 27.
"Because they haven't got that stigma of 'what if'. Their friends and families won't be worried about them. But it hasn't really been an issue for me personally."
Smith said it felt great to have increased protection from Covid-19, and the only side effect she experienced was a bad headache after the second jab.
She said she didn't feel any pain while receiving either dose.
"I was one of the lucky people that didn't feel anything, you just kind of felt like you had a bit of a bruise on your arm.
"After the second one, I did have quite a bad headache that lasted into the next day. It was a small price to pay."
She believed getting vaccinated meant she was doing her bit in a "collective sense" to protect all New Zealanders.
"You are doing it for everyone else – your elderly relatives, your chronically ill friends or family members. It's not just about yourself at work, it's about other people in your community."
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved by Medsafe experts and has already been used successfully all around the world by millions of people. The Pfizer vaccine is 95 per cent effective when you receive both doses.
Smith said there is a "really rigorous cleaning process" across all three MIQ facilities in Rotorua.
Staff were also required to wear masks constantly and practice hand hygiene as soon as they got to work.
"We are very strict, but it is very much a sense of a team in the managed isolation facilities. You will see your Defence Force guys in their Army uniform wiping the reception desk."
Smith said a big part of her role was making sure all MIQ staff in Rotorua felt safe at work. This included the management, the military, the police, the health staff, the security staff, the hotel staff and the cleaners.
"We are about preventing infections from spreading between guests and staff, and staff to the community.
"It's about making sure that staff feel safe at work – that is one question I ask people every day. And it is very encouraging that the processes and practices we have in place – I have never had a no answer."
Lakes DHB chief operating officer Alan Wilson said previously DHB staff worked hard to get the immunisation programme up and running quickly.
Wilson said the DHB had an operational plan for delivering the Covid-19 immunisations and the prioritisation plan released recently by the Ministry of Health would help progress the rollout.
A Lakes DHB spokesperson said work continued to vaccinate the household contacts and they were beginning the rollout to frontline health workers.
The rollout plan includes four groups; • Border and managed isolation and quarantine workers and people they live with • Frontline health workers and people living in high-risk settings • People at higher risk of serious outcomes or illness • General population.
