Unvaccinated cops and firefighters stood down from frontline duties

A number of firefighters and police staff could be forced to take leave from their frontline duties due to Covid-19 vaccination mandates coming into play.

Staff remain tight-lipped and the exact number in the Bay of Plenty community is not known, however, staff say those who do leave will be hard to replace.

The Government's Covid-19 vaccination mandate required all firefighters to get both Covid-19 vaccinations by last Friday while all police constabulary staff, authorised officers and recruits had to have their first vaccine shot by Monday and their second vaccination dose by March 1.

On Friday it was reported 98 per cent of the 10,500 police staff covered by the mandate have had one vaccination, meaning more than 200 police officers were yet to get their first dose.

A police spokesman said only a small number of staff were stood down in the Bay of Plenty but he declined to provide exact numbers, saying an Official Information Act request would be needed to obtain more details of unvaccinated staff numbers and their stations.

"We will be consulting with these staff members over the next three weeks to consider redeployment options, leave-without-pay options or any application for a medical exemption.

Police officers carrying a Freedom & Rights Coalition protester who needed assistance during the demonstration at Parliament last month. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"As an organisation, we support vaccination because it aligns with our goal that our people and communities are safe and feel safe."

Police Association Bay of Plenty Waikato regional director Scott Thompson said he knew some local areas had all staff fully vaccinated.

"Others may be down to 85 per cent. Like every other organisation, even losing one or two staff could have a huge impact not only on the staff member but on future resourcing.

"There are pockets in the country where only one or two staff were unvaccinated, which could mean about one-tenth of the station's staff, others may have as many as five staff."

Thompson said there was always "natural churn" but the potential loss of 200 staff nationwide would be "tragic".

"Particularly losing those working in specialist roles as it would be difficult and quite challenging to replace all that knowledge and experience."

Thompson said he was also deeply concerned about the loss of new recruits as it could mean policing numbers would be "going backwards".

Fire and Emergency New Zealand would also not provide localised vaccination rates, citing privacy, but national commander Kerry Gregory said 95.1 per cent of its paid staff and 90.4 per cent of volunteers nationwide were fully vaccinated as of Monday.

Gregory said 0.8 per cent of paid employees and 2.1 per cent of volunteers were partially vaccinated or had not provided their vaccination status.

"Those who are not fully vaccinated will not be responding to incidents, and we are working closely with this group of personnel on the next steps for them."

Fire and Emergency NZ national commander Kerry Gregory. Photo / NZME

Gregory said Fire and Emergency NZ was confident it would continue to respond and keep communities safe.

A highly relieved Ōpōtiki chief fire officer Rowan Newell said all 26 people in the brigade were fully vaccinated.

"It's certainly has made my job easier," he said.

United Fire Brigades Association (UFBA) chairman Peter Dunne earlier said there were now "probably a few hundred" volunteer firefighters out of about 11,500 volunteers nationwide who were unavailable to respond to fires.

Where possible they would be transferred to non-frontline roles, he said.

However, Dunne said overall firefighting ability would not be affected because where staff numbers were low, Fire and Emergency NZ would provide coverage from other areas when needed.

Mayor View Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Paul Tucker. Photo / NZME

Other fire brigades contacted by the Rotorua Daily Post either refused to comment, directing questions to Fire and Emergency NZ, or did not return calls.

Elsewhere in the Bay of Plenty region, Katikati chief fire officer Joe Manukau said one of the 26 people in the brigade had opted not to get vaccinated. That person was now on leave from their frontline volunteer duties for three months.

Maketū chief fire officer Shane Gourlay said two of the brigade's 17 members were impacted by the mandate. Both had personal medical reasons for not getting vaccinated now and had been put on leave for three months.

Mayor View Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Paul Tucker said about 15 per cent of the 32 brigade members were unvaccinated.

Tucker said he hoped these volunteers would change their minds and get vaccinated.