Closing on 90 per cent first vax

Taranaki is ‘‘inching closer’’ to reaching the 90 per cent first jab target, with the region’s vaccine boss predicting the goal will be scored early next week.

The milestone has been a long time coming. For months, Taranaki was infamous as the region with the lowest vaccination rate.

But in the past two months it has improved its position slightly and now Taranaki is in 14th spot out of 20 district health boards.

Ministry of Health figures from yesterday show 89 per cent of the eligible population of 102,147 has had one dose and 80 per cent has received both doses.

The national average is 92 per cent first dose and 85 per cent double dose.

Taranaki is one of seven district health boards that have yet to hit 90 per cent first doses.

But the region should get there some time between Monday and Wednesday next week, the Taranaki District Health Board’s Covid response manager, Bevan ClaytonSmith, said.

‘‘We are under 1000 to go to get to 90 per cent,’’ Clayton-Smith said. ‘‘We are inching closer.’’

Clayton-Smith said that after sitting at the bottom of the vaccination pack for a number of weeks, ‘‘the only way was up’’.

‘‘It was a challenge for Taranaki to prove everyone wrong,’’ he said.

‘‘It is not about how you start; it is about how you finish.’’

In the past seven days there has been an average of 135 first shots and 407 second shots given each day.

Should this rate of vaccine uptake continue, Taranaki will be on track to have 90 per cent of the eligible population vaccinated before Christmas.

This momentum might explain why the vaccination boss is not worried about getting people in to have their second Pfizer jab.

‘‘Taranakians have really taken on board being fully vaccinated.’’

While 90 per cent double-dosed will be a milestone, Clayton-Smith hopes to see 95 per cent doublejabbed across all ethnic groups.

Iwi leaders last week set themselves the 95 per cent goal in preparation for mid-December when Aucklanders who have been double vaccinated, or who recently tested negative for the virus, will be allowed to leave the super-city.

‘‘I don’t think I will be seriously happy until we hit 95 per cent,’’ Clayton-Smith said. ‘‘There is still plenty of work to be done.’’

The man who has become one of the most recognisable faces of Taranaki’s vaccine roll-out said there were a number of factors that had pushed the vaccination figures up.

The six Covid-19 cases in Stratford helped spur people on and initiatives such as bacon butties, vouchers and mandates all played their part.

One of the key elements was collaboration with other health service providers and iwi groups.

He acknowledged the mass-hub vaccinating model ‘‘will only get you so far’’ and said the community approach was making a real difference.

Hayden Wano, the chief executive of Māori health service Tui Ora, agreed. Mass clinics had ‘‘done their time’’, he said.

‘‘It is not just a health response – it is a community response.’’

Wano also thought the cases in Stratford had encouraged people to get vaccinated, as Covid-19 was in their community.

‘‘It is no surprise Auckland districts hit their targets.’’

Wano was happy to see the overall rise in vaccination rates and he thought there was an aspect of ‘‘true Taranaki spirit’’.

‘‘When you face adversity you come together.’’

The Taranaki Pasifika community reached a rate of 90 per cent for first doses this week.

However, the Ministry of Health’s latest figures show that only 78 per cent of Taranaki Māori had received their first dose and 63 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Wano said he was ‘‘very proud’’ of all the kaimahi (staff) who had put in the hard yards to drive that number up. ‘‘We are doing quite well.’’

Although he wished they had hit these targets earlier, ‘‘we don’t have the luxury of being able to wind time back’’.

Which is why they are still working hard and have planned Super Rāhoroi (Saturday) take three this weekend, offering rides to and from clinics in the ‘‘vaxi taxi’’, coffee and kai, and other incentives to get people vaccinated.

Tui Ora kaimahi will be set up at the Onuku Taipari Domain in Ngāmotu Rd and at the Ngati Rāhiri Hapu building in Queen St, Waitara.

‘‘If distance is an issue, we can come for you.’’

Meanwhile, earlier this week Taranaki medical officer of health Dr Jonathan Jarman said if there were no new cases by yesterday ‘‘the Stratford Covid-19 cluster might be contained’’.

‘‘What this shows is that with a combined effort we can get on top of this virus,’’ he said in a statement.

Next week, a different Covid-19 vaccine known as the Oxford– AstraZeneca vaccine will become available for people who have not been able to get the Pfizer jab, or who have had an adverse reaction to their first dose.

While a majority of Taranaki people have been vaccinated, there has been opposition to the Government mandates that enforced vaccination on the education and health sectors. Last weekend, 200 to 300 protesters marched through New Plymouth in opposition to the mandates.

The week before, protesters surrounded the Labour Party offices in New Plymouth. No MPs were in the office at the time.