Nine nurses among Whanganui DHB staff stood down following vaccine mandate

A total of 30 Whanganui DHB staff were stood down this week after failing to be vaccinated. Photo / Bevan Conley

Nine nurses are among the 30 Whanganui District Health Board staff stood down following the introduction of vaccination mandates for frontline health workers this week.

The deadline for frontline health workers to receive their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine was 11.59pm on Tuesday.

The DHB would not confirm the roles of other staff who were stood down, citing privacy concerns.

The 30 staff stood down equates to around 3 per cent of the Whanganui DHB workforce.

Spokeswoman for all DHBs, Rosemary Clements, said those who decided not to be vaccinated remain in contact with the DHB to discuss other options such as redeployment and so the DHB can continue to encourage them to consider vaccination.

"We have engaged and agreed with the health sector unions on the processes we are following," she said.

Clements said that if staff make the decision to be vaccinated during the stand-down period, they will be able to return to work.

Clements said all DHBs had plans in place to minimise any impact on services, including staff rostering, and close monitoring of any areas where there may be some staff shortage.

"Our absolute focus is on ensuring continuity of patient care."

Nationwide, a total of 1309 unvaccinated staff had been stood down across all 20 DHBs.

Northland, Taranaki and West Coast DHBs stood down the highest proportion of staff at 4 per cent, while Auckland DHB had the lowest figure at just 1 per cent.

With a nationwide workforce of approximately 80,000, the collective stand-downs represent about 1.6 per cent of all DHB employees.

Health workers have until January 1, 2022 to receive their second dose of the vaccine.