Covid-19 Coronavirus: The 90% Project: Waikato's first jab rate on the way up to 90 per cent

Drive-through vaccination centres were busy on Super Saturday, boosting New Zealand's vaccination rate. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Vaccination rates for first doses are slowly climbing towards 90 per cent in Waikato as Covid cases continue to appear within the region's communities.

To help the region reach the 90 per cent target, the Te Awa The Base community vaccination centre in Hamilton has extended its operating hours to cater for people who cannot be vaccinated during normal working hours. As of this week until Christmas, the vaccination centre will open from 9am to 9pm every Thursday and Friday.

The Waikato DHB today announced six new linked cases of Covid-19, all in Hamilton. Five were known contacts and were already in isolation and the sixth could be linked to previous cases.

This brings the total amount of cases in the region's outbreak to 97, however, 36 of those have now recovered. There are 35 cases in the Awamutu/Kihikihi area, 31 in Hamilton and 23 in Raglan. The Cambridge/Karāpiro area has three cases, Ōtorohanga and Whatawhata two each and Kāwhia one.

Testing numbers remain high with 9089 tests processed for the Waikato over the past long weekend. On Tuesday, 1860 tests were processed.

The DHB is urging anyone in Waikato, particularly people in Te Awamutu and Ōtorohanga, to get tested if they have any symptoms.

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Meanwhile, New Zealand reached a milestone this week with a vaccination rate of 71.7 per cent and over three million people fully vaccinated.

As of today, 548,038 Covid-19 vaccinations have been delivered across Waikato, of which 303,787 were first doses and 244,251 second doses. This means 85 per cent of the region's eligible population have had one dose and 68.2 per cent are now fully vaccinated.

Waipā district is close to 90 per cent of first doses with 89.3 per cent having had one jab and 71.8 per cent fully vaccinated. In Hamilton 88.3 per cent of the population had one dose and 72.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Ōtorohanga is Waikato's least vaccinated area with 55.4 per cent fully vaccinated, followed closely by Ruapehu District with 55.6 per cent and South Waikato District with 55.7 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated.

Nationally, the most vaccinated area is the Queenstown-Lakes District with a vaccination rate of 81.3 per cent and only 3.5 per cent unvaccinated.

The least vaccinated region in the country is still Kawerau with 50.2 per cent fully vaccinated and 32 per cent still unvaccinated.

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