AUCKLAND, Feb 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccination official roll-out, began today, when border workers received their first vaccinations in Auckland’s quarantine facility.
Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health from the Ministry of Health, said, the country has arrived at a key point in its pandemic response, with today’s first vaccinations for border workers.
“Today, we kick off the largest immunisation programme in our history, by vaccinating the first of our border workforce, a critical step in protecting everyone in New Zealand,” said Bloomfield, when addressing a media conference in Auckland.
The vaccination programme will start on Monday in Wellington and then Christchurch on Wednesday, before starting to vaccinate the rest of New Zealand’s about 12,000 border workers, and workers in the managed isolation and quarantine facilities, over the next few weeks.
Once the border workers have been vaccinated, members of their household contacts will be vaccinated. The vaccination of the general public is expected to start from the second half of 2021, according to the New Zealand COVID-19 vaccine strategy.
The first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines arrived in New Zealand, less than one week before the national vaccine roll-out. Yesterday, 25 vaccinators received the first vaccine jabs in Auckland.
The general public was urged to stay vigilant and stick to the basic hygiene practices, at the media conference.
New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, is currently at COVID-19 Alert Level Two and the rest of the country at Alert Level One.– NNN-AGENCIES
