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Southern mayors hit the road with vaccine in tow

Southland reporter

Two southern mayors will quite literally be taking the Covid-19 vaccine to their rural communities.

Come Monday, Southland District mayor Gary Tong and Gore District mayor Tracy Hicks will start towing vaccine caravans throughout their districts with the help of health staff to get as many rural Southlanders jabbed as possible.

While vaccine numbers in Southland and Otago – which fall under the Southern District Health Board – are among the highest in New Zealand, rural Southland has been lagging behind.

This is largely because it’s a busy time of the year for farmers, which means they don’t have time to drive to the nearest town for their shot.

As of yesterday morning, 88 per cent of the Southern District population over 12 have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 73.6 per cent are fully vaccinated.

But data from October 20 showed 82 per cent of Invercargill City residents had received their first dose of the vaccine, versus 79 per cent in Gore District and 78 per cent in Southland District.

A Southern District Health Board spokesperson said testing numbers increased over the weekend after news of the South Island’s first Covid-19 case since 2020 in Blenheim.

The most notable jump was 58 swabs taken on Sunday – more than double the previous Sunday, while 51 swabs were taken on Monday.

The two mayors said it made sense for Southland’s two ruralfocused councils to join forces.

‘‘Covid-19 doesn’t recognise local government boundaries, Anything we can do to make it easier for people in more remote areas to get vaccinated and lift the region’s rate above 90 per cent has got to be good,‘‘ Hicks said.

‘‘We’re the best in the country at a lot of things. Let’s be best at being vaccinated.’’

Knowing that many rural people were flat out at the moment and did not have time to travel an hour or more to get a vaccination, so getting the team out could be helpful, Tong said.

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2021-10-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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