Covid-19 Vaccination Update

Dear Motueka CommunityThere have been a few questions around the COVID vaccine recently, as some of our community members have been contacted to receive the vaccine, but not all.

The current state of play is;

– The roll out of the covid vaccine in the Nelson/Tasman region is being run centrally, and not by individual GP practices.

– As per the Ministry of Health the current groups being focused on are border workers, their whanau and healthcare workers. (Click here to find out where you sit in the roll out schedule.)

– Just prior to Easter the Ministry of Health sent a larger shipment of the vaccine than anticipated and this resulted in a number of the next group cohort of the NZ population in the roll out schedule (over 65’s) to be contacted to take up the opportunity for the vaccine.

– There are tight timeframes on when the vaccine MUST be used, and so healthcare providers across the region did their absolute best to assist to ensure there was no wastage by contacting patients from their practices who met the criteria of over 65.

– Clinics in Motueka were held at Greenwood Health and some of the regular Greenwood Health staff members assisted in these clinics. This was because we were readily available at short notice, a large site and convenient for the community.

– At this stage the focus is still on the first 2 tiers (border and healthcare workers), but the anticipation is in the next few weeks tier 3 (over 65’s and those with relevant underlying healthcare conditions) will be able to book in for a covid vaccine.

We acknowledge it is very frustrating when you hear that friends, neighbours or acquaintances have had the vaccine and you have not yet been contacted, or you may have missed the opportunity.

Please be patient.

Aotearoa is in the best possible country in the world to be covid-wise at the moment, and the roll out of the vaccine is happening quickly, even if it doesn’t feel like it is. As soon as there is more information about the next phase of the vaccine roll out we will put that information up on our website and our facebook page.

Kia kaha.

Greenwood Health Team