STILL NOT READY

WELLINGTON: We haven’t got the GPs and pharmacists on board yet.

That’s the reason Covid19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins gave for why New Zealand cannot administer 50,000 doses a day.

We were pretty much running on empty until this week’s Pfizer shipment, and the Government’s reasonable excuse for the pace of the rollout had been a lack of abundant supply.

We even needed to ask district health boards, which were and still are ahead of schedule, to slow down so existing bookings didn’t need to be cancelled.

But supply is no longer an issue. This week 350,000odd doses arrived — enough for 50,000 doses a day — and

1.5 million doses are expected over August.

We need to deliver about 50,000 doses a day to vaccinate four million people by December (DHB rollout plans only go up to December 5). That number will jump if 12 to 15yearolds are included, as is expected.

The Government spent months readying itself for the day when supply is abundant — but we’re not there yet, and won’t be for weeks.

It’s not because of a lack of staff or venues, Mr Hipkins said, because GPs and pharmacies already have those.

‘‘Bringing more of them on board is a process that is really accelerating now,’’ he said yesterday.

Noone is pretending planning with a postcodelottery DHB system is easy. Add the uncertainties of supply, demand, and who will book and actually show up.

But it’s hardly a model of efficiency to finally have the supply issue sorted but then be hamstrung by delivery capacity.

GPs and pharmacists have been crying out for months to be involved.

Many are refusing bookings, due to a lack of certainty about their role.

Similar questions about Government preparation — or lack thereof — hang over predeparture tests for arrivals from Australia, half of whom walk through the airport unchecked.

Asked if delays were a small price to pay for safety, Mr Hipkins said it was mainly a lack of staffing — which surely could have been anticipated, even with the uncertainties of which bubble might pause.

Staff were being hired, Mr Hipkins said, and the vaccination system should have capacity for 50,000 doses a day by the end of August.

DHBs are 75,000 doses ahead of schedule. By August 29, they plan to have administered just over 3 million doses, which might be closer to 3.1 million at the current rate, while about

3.6 million are expected to have been shipped here in total.

After saying for weeks he wanted jabs in people’s arms rather than sitting in the freezer, Mr Hipkins may find the freezers loaded with up to 500,000 doses by then. —