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Lush fears Covid spread unless vaccinations rise

Evan Harding evan.harding@stuff.co.nz

An Invercargill city councillor fears the Covid-19 virus could ‘‘really unfold badly’’ in the city and its surrounds, unless more people get vaccinated.

Speaking at a council meeting yesterday, Marcus Lush questioned if the council was doing everything it could to get the vaccination numbers up in the city.

The city was only a passenger flight away from getting the virus, he said.

Lush sensed a complacency in the deep south, while noting the high vaccination rates in Central Otago and Dunedin.

It worried him that Invercargill’s vaccination percentage rates would be in the 80s and not the 90s.

Hospitals in several countries which had vaccination rates in the 90s had been inundated with Covid-19 patients, and he noted Invercargill had an elderly population and its people spent a lot of time indoors, due to the climate.

‘‘I think we are looking at a situation that could really unfold badly.’’

The messaging around vaccinating Invercargill residents had been ‘‘almost invisible’’ and he wanted the profile raised by the council.

‘‘We need to look at creative ways for people to go and get their vaccine, and it needs to be done quite soon.

‘‘It’s probably the most serious preventable disaster Invercargill has ever faced ... I am very worried about how Invercargill will cope and what we can do to improve the outcomes of this preventable pandemic.’’

Other councillors agreed, with Darren Ludlow suggesting the Southland mayors and council itself could encourage people to get vaccinated, while it was up to each elected councillor to do their bit.

The inevitability of Covid-19 arriving in the city again was ‘‘very solid’’, Ludlow said.

‘‘I would be surprised if we didn’t have cases here before Christmas.’’

He was ‘‘moderately respectful’’ of those who chose not to be vaccinated. ‘‘But if people make the choice not to be vaccinated they will have to accept the consequences which come with it, and that in many cases will be not getting admission to certain areas, events and spaces.’’

Councillor Nobby Clark said if Southland got to a 90 per cent vaccination rate it would still have 24,000 people unvaccintaed, given the number of children who were not eligible for the jab. ‘‘That’s a really scary figure.’’ He suggested some residents in the deep south were blase about Covid-19, ‘‘but you do that at your peril’’.

The 18-29 year age group was the most blase and he believed they could be reached through mediums such as music and Facebook, while mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt suggested Tik Tok as a way to get the message out.

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2021-10-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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