Mayor calls on Ministry to ‘step up’

The mayor of a town with the lowest vaccination rates in the country is calling on the Ministry of Health to ‘‘step up’’.

‘‘Get off your ass and get people into action,’’ Kawerau mayor Malcolm Campbell told

The message comes after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed a clutch of regions in the North Island with low vaccination rates will start in the ‘‘red’’ traffic light setting this Friday.

It included Kawerau, Taupō , Rotorua lakes districts, Ō pō tiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Rangitikei, Whanganui, Ruapehu Districts, Auckland and Northland.

The rest of the country – including the entire South Island, Wellington, and Waikato district – will all start at orange.

Other than Auckland, the regions starting at red all had second dose rates for their 12+ population below 79 per cent as of last Tuesday, with Kawerau as low as 64 per cent.

Campbell wanted the District Health Board to step up and coordinate with Tū wharetoa health providers.

‘‘It’s been a dog’s breakfast,’’ he said, referring to the vaccine roll-out.

‘‘We’ve [Council’s] been stepping in and taking the lead because no one else is there. We want better co-ordination.’’

When asked by why the community was vaccine-hesitant,

Campbell said there’s ‘‘half-wits in town reading the crap on Facebook.

‘‘These people can’t see past their bloody noses and instead, we’re pushing water uphill.’’

The town’s first case of the Delta variant was announced over the weekend and while it did encourage some, Campbell said a lot of people missed out because there weren’t enough vaccines.

‘‘We want better co-ordination. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink it.’’

Under the red traffic light, venues can still open if they require vaccine passes, but will need to have capacity limits and seating requirements.

At orange venues and businesses that require vaccine passes can generally operate normally, with no capacity limits or seating requirements. Venues that choose to not require vaccine passes will face more severe restrictions, with cafe´ s and restaurants only able to allow for pickup and delivery.