Patrick O'Connor says the Pfizer vaccination is 95 per cent effective in stopping Covid-19 cases, and immediate side effects are "relatively minor". Photo / Bevan Conley
Patrick O'Connor says the Pfizer vaccination is 95 per cent effective in stopping Covid-19 cases, and immediate side effects are "relatively minor". Photo / Bevan Conley
The rollout of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will begin in the Whanganui, Rangitīkei and South Ruapehu districts next week. Whanganui Medical Officer of Health Patrick O'Connor said while it was important for individual protection, it was "equally, if not more important" for community protection.
"If we want to see ourselvesheading back towards a more normal, functioning society, both nationally and internationally, then we need to build-up our immunity," O'Connor said.
"Vaccination is the only way to do it.
"The vaccine we're using has been given in millions of doses, in Israel in particular, where it will be used on the entire adult population.
"The information coming out of there is very reassuring. It's more than 95 per cent effective in stopping cases and the immediate side effects are relatively minor."
"The alternative is that it take us longer to open up the borders, or when we do we have to be more accepting that there will be cases.
"There are [international] travel opportunities, work opportunities, educational opportunities. There are all sorts of things out there for us, and at the moment we're cut off from it."
O'Connor said other vaccines had not had adverse long-term effects.
"In general, vaccines do not have long-term consequences, and do not cause long-term harm.
"I see no reason why this one would."
O'Connor said he thought the speed at which the vaccine had been developed was "a triumph of science".
"We identified the RNA genetic make-up of the virus very quickly, and because of that we were able to have prototype vaccines ready very quickly as well.
"They've been put through trials that have involved tens of thousands of people before they went on to the market, and now they're on the market there's been further monitoring of what's happening.
"Around the world, more than 400 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been given. It's well under way. This thing has been scrutinised closely, and people can be confident that it's a safe and effective vaccine."
There were "all sorts of vulnerable populations" right throughout the country, O'Connor said.
"If I was a fit 25-year-old I might think 'I can cope with this', but fit 25-year-olds have grandparents.
"We really have to have a means of protecting them. It's not just about people getting ill, people have to stop themselves being a vehicle for transmission of the virus.
"We're going to have to learn to live with it, and if we don't want the chaos that it brings we're going to have to vaccinate."
