The 90% Project: Waikato DHB reaches 90 per cent of first vaccinations

The Waikato reached 90 per cent of first vaccinations on the weekend. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

The Waikato region reached the magic 90 per cent milestone for first doses of the Covid-19 vaccination yesterday.

A total of 321,468 people have now had their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 289,986 their second. The Waikato Pacific population have also achieved 90 per cent first dose yesterday with 9614 first vaccinations given.

Meanwhile, Waitomo District is now the third area in Waikato to achieve over 90 per cent of first doses as 91.1 per cent of the eligible population have received their first jab. Hamilton is at 92.8 per cent and Waipa District at 93 per cent of first vaccinations.

Waikato COVID-19 programme lead Maree Munro says: "Thank you, Waikato, to each and every one of you that has had your vaccination so far."

She said with summer coming, people want to make sure they can get out and about. "Once we move into the new system, you won't be able to do a lot of the things you love unless you are fully vaccinated. That's a big incentive for people to get cracking.

"The Delta outbreak in Waikato has also been a reminder that Covid-19 can spread far and fast and hits the unvaccinated hardest."

There are 20 new cases being reported in Waikato today. Eight were from Te Kūiti, seven from Huntly, three from Hamilton, and one each from Ngāruawāhia and Ōtorohanga. This brings the total number of cases during this Waikato outbreak to 350 (187 active, 163 recovered).

In the Waikato region, public health staff are now supporting 145 cases to isolate at home. There were 2106 tests processed in Waikato yesterday and 639 vaccinations given. Testing sites are operating across Waikato today in Hamilton, Ōtorohanga, Huntly, Thames, Te Kūiti, Ngāruawāhia, Tokoroa and Putāruru.

There were five new locations of interest identified yesterday in Te Kūiti and one in Hamilton.

The national traffic light system coming into place at 11.59pm on December 3 will give businesses and organisations the option of either asking customers to show proof of vaccination or operating with restrictions like those in the current alert level system. In some higher risk settings, vaccine passes will be mandatory for a business or service to open.

Munro says hitting the milestone is a great effort and was achieved through the hard work of DHB staff, kaupapa Māori and Pacific and other primary healthcare providers as well as support from community groups, business and community leaders to promote vaccinations.

"The job's not done yet for our team Waikato though. We need to reach that 90 per cent fully vaccinated rate. We also need to look at who has been vaccinated. When we break down the data into age or ethnicity groups we are not there yet. We have a large and vulnerable Māori population who are 7265 (79.5%) short of reaching the 90% first dose target.

"Although we have vaccinated over 95 per cent of our Māori and Pacific kaumatua who are 65+ years we need to reach the younger generation to achieve 90 per cent first doses for Māori and then for full vaccination so everyone in our community has a high level of protection."

"People need to make sure they have both doses to be fully protected. You only need to wait three weeks after your first dose before you can get your second dose."

For a full list of the locations of interest click here.