The Ruapehu town of Raetihi, population 1000, is one of the last remaining places in New Zealand with more people unvaccinated than vaccinated. Photo / NZME
The Ruapehu town of Raetihi, population 1000, is one of the last remaining places in New Zealand with more people unvaccinated than vaccinated. Photo / NZME
Gonville and Castlecliff have the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates in Whanganui, according to Ministry of Health data on rates within suburbs.
The data, released publicly last week, details the number of residents either partially or fully vaccinated in every suburb in the country.
In Whanganui, the western side of Gonville had the lowest number of people vaccinated - just 53 per cent with at least one dose.
Western Gonville was closely followed by Castlecliff East, with 58.1 per cent having been jabbed at least once.
Castlecliff West, alongside the northern and southern parts of Gonville followed with around 65 per cent having had first doses, with Aramoho sitting on the same figure.
Whanganui East sat slightly higher with around 70 per cent having had a jab, while College Estate sat at around 77 per cent.
The area known as Upper Whanganui, which includes all of the remote Whanganui awa settlements from Parakino to Jerusalem, sat at 67 per cent having had at least one dose.
The eligible population of that area is estimated to be 938.
The northern suburbs of Whanganui had much higher vaccination rates, with upwards of 80 per cent having had at least one dose.
St Johns Hill East was the most vaccinated suburb in the entire Whanganui DHB region, nearing 88 per cent having at least one dose.
The suburbs of Otamatea, St Johns Hill West, Springvale and Brunswick-Papaiti followed, with high vaccination rates also seen in both the Bastia and Durie Hill suburbs, and Pūtiki.
Rangitīkei and Ruapehu rollout lagging behind
Raetihi, the State Highway 4 settlement with an eligible population of around 860, has some of the worst uptake of any single geographical area in the country.
The town is part of the Ruapehu district, which falls predominantly within the Whanganui DHB catchment.
Just 46.8 per cent of the Raetihi population have had at least one dose of the vaccine, making the town one of the last remaining places in the country with more people unvaccinated than vaccinated.
That figure puts Raetihi behind just two other geographical areas in the country - Galatea in the Whakatāne District and the suburb of Otangarei in Whangārei - for the lowest uptake of the vaccine in New Zealand.
The Ruapehu town of Raetihi, population 1000, is one of the last remaining places in New Zealand with more people unvaccinated than vaccinated. Photo / NZME
In Ohakune, a total of 72 per cent of the town has received at least one dose, while in Waiouru, that figure sits at 74 per cent.
In Rangitīkei, uptake is high.
Exactly 75 per cent of Bulls' population has received at least one dose, while 80 per cent have had their first jab in the rural parts of Marton.
In Marton itself, 77 per cent of those in the northern part of the town had received a jab, while that number slumped to 66 per cent in the town's southern area.
Taihape sat at 67.4 per cent with one dose of the town's eligible population of 1430.
Across the entire Whanganui DHB region as at Monday, a total of 76.4 per cent of the eligible population had received at least one dose.
