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Wednesday, 28 July 2021, 3:15 pm
Residents on Rakiura Stewart Island have turned out in
force today (28 July) for their COVID-19 vaccinations at the
first of a two-day COVID-19 clinic offering vaccinations to
the 385 eligible people on the island.
Within the
first two and a half hours, more than 100 people had been
vaccinated, with no sign of demand slowing.
The
clinic, set up at the Stewart Island Community Centre, has 4
vaccinating booths and is run by 12 staff, led by nurse
practitioner Nadine Goldsmith, of Awarua Whānau
Services.
“We’re so pleased that many residents
are coming down here to take up this opportunity of getting
There are fears rural communities in the south may be left behind during the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
A clinic was planned for Ranfurly in Central Otago on 26 July, Southern DHB says.
Photo: RNZ / Lydia Anderson
Community leaders say there has been scant information about when vulnerable populations in remote areas can expect to be inoculated.
The Southern DHB said more clinics would open by the end of July in remote areas so no one was more than an hour from the nearest clinic.
Fiordland Community Board chair Sarah Greaney said despite group 3 - those over 65 or at greater risk from Covid-19 - being eligible for the vaccine, the nearest clinic at present was 140km away in Gore.
A clinic was planned for Ranfurly in Central Otago in late July, Southern DHB says. Fiordland Community Board chair Sarah Greaney said despite group 3 – those over 65 or at greater risk from Covid-19 – being eligible for the vaccine, the nearest clinic at present was 140km away in Gore. She had to take her husband even further, to Queenstown, to get his two shots. “But of course it has meant a four-and-a-half hour round trip to go to Queenstown to get it done, and I do know of a lot of other people who have done the same thing because they want to be vaccinated,” she said.