Covid-19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Whanganui DHB's vaccination rollout reaches halfway mark

The Whanganui DHB has delivered 16,437 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine since heightened restrictions kicked in, but the consistency of that rollout is varied. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui District Health Board's Covid-19 vaccination rollout has reached the halfway mark.

The milestone was crossed on Tuesday as the DHB delivered a total of 802 doses across the wider region.

The DHB has now delivered 55,349 doses - half the amount required to vaccinate 100 per cent of the 12-plus population of 55,253 with two doses.

In the three-week period since the beginning of lockdown on August 18, the DHB has delivered 16,437 doses of the vaccine - by far the most significant number within a three week period since the start of the rollout.

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But the consistency of that delivery is varied, with delivery being upwards of 1000 doses on some days with a few hundred on others.

On September 2, 1305 doses of the vaccine were delivered across the catchment.

But only a day later on just 581 doses were delivered - less than half of the previous day.

Between Friday September 3 and Monday September 6, the average daily total sat at just 524 doses.

The average total for that same Friday-Monday period one week earlier was 838 doses.

A DHB spokesperson said the variation in the rollout each day came down to the number of people presenting for a vaccination, as well as what day they are presenting on.

"Variations depend on how many people are booking vaccinations, staff rosters, availability of locations, and which particular days suit particular communities and our various providers," the spokesman said.

He said the significant jump in demand for vaccination during August could be put down to the discovery of Delta in the community.

"The rollout hasn't slowed, but we did experience a surge in demand for vaccinations with the incursion of the Delta variant into the community and the alert level 4 lockdown.

"This can be seen from the high numbers for August 23-27. We have now settled down to our usual numbers."

The spokesman said that the variation wasn't due to a restriction in supply.

The DHB said that after the lockdown-induced jump in the vaccine rollout it expected numbers to continue around where they sit at the moment.

"As bookings are coming in all the time, both at a local level and a national level, it is hard to forecast, but we would expect numbers to continue on their current trend."