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Photo: Supplied / Ministry of Health
The little town of 900 is the first in New Zealand to have the shots on offer to the general public.
West Coast District Health Board operations manager Phil Wheble told the DHB board meeting on Friday that the focus until now had been to immunise front-line health care workers and people in aged care, with 1240 people vaccinated on the West Coast to date. In Reefton, we have the capacity to vaccinate the health workers and anyone else we can - so it s an opportunity to test our systems for the whole community.
Board chairperson Rick Barker said he was pleased staff had chosen to expand the programme to Reefton.
The other three active cases arrived from England, Egypt and Pakistan. Four of the 23 cases were deemed historical. India has the third-highest number of cases in the world, behind the United States and Brazil, and is experiencing a rising rate of reported cases. Of the nearly 100,000 cases a day in India, about half are in the state of Maharashta, of which Mumbai is the capital, so there s a “very active outbreak there”, Bloomfield said. Many cases experience the onset of symptoms pre- or during travel to New Zealand, Bloomfield said. On Wednesday there were seven new cases of the virus announced in managed isolation.
Covid-19: Eight new cases of virus in managed isolation, one historical stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Leaders and public health experts across South Auckland are welcoming the decision to prioritise at-risk residents for the vaccine roll-out, but for some it doesn t go far enough.
Photo: Supplied / Ministry of Health A little disappointing and not ideal is how some Pacific public health experts are describing the government s vaccine announcement to limit the prioritising of South Aucklanders to those over 65 or with an underlying health issue.
On Wednesday, the government revealed details of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan, specifying which groups will be able to access the Pfizer vaccine ahead of the general population.
Dr Collin Tukuitonga, associate dean Pacific at the University of Auckland s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, said his ideal scenario would have been to immunise all Counties Manukau District Health Board residents first, but it s still fantastic the rollout is happening.