NZ now on ‘borrowed time’
Expert says possible Omicron outbreak should be delayed as children get jab
ACovid-19 expert has warned New Zealand is on “borrowed time”, while 5-to11-year-olds are now eligible to receive their vaccination against the virus.
Health officials yesterday revealed an MIQ worker was among 25 new community cases. However, the Ministry of Health confirmed that the worker had Omicron.
The border worker returned a positive result for Covid-19 late on Saturday afternoon and was in isolation, the Ministry of Health said.
The test was taken as part of routine border worker surveillance testing.
New Zealand now faced the threat of the Omicron variant, which might soon be in the community Baker said.
“It’s the second case of local [Omicron] transmission we have had in New Zealand so it does indicate we are really on borrowed time with Omicron at the moment,” Baker said.
Baker said the reason the daily number of cases was dropping was due to the fact more than 90 per cent of the population was partially or fully vaccinated.
But he said the possible outbreak should be delayed as much as possible.
“We want to delay that for a period hopefully into March or even a bit beyond to give New Zealanders the chance to get boosted and vaccinate children in New Zealand,” he said.
From today, health providers across the country can vaccinate 5-to11-year-olds against Covid-19.
In preparation, more than 120,000 doses of the Pfizer child vaccine have been delivered to over 500 vaccination sites.
The vaccine used for children has a lower dose and smaller volume than the adult vaccine and is administered with a smaller needle. Children will also have to wait eight weeks before receiving a second jab.
Starship paediatric consultant Dr Jin Russell advised parents and caregivers to prepare their child for vaccination.
“The best thing a parent can do to prepare their children to be immunised is to talk to them about what is going to happen.
“Tell them there will be a small needle and that they will feel a sharp scratch or sting briefly but then it will be over. They may have a sore arm, fever, headache or feel tired afterwards,” Russell said.
Russell had told her own children why they would be vaccinated.
“I say to my boys, you are going to be vaccinated to protect yourself against Covid-19, and to protect our family, your grandparents, our community, and other kids at school who may be more at risk from Covid-19 if they catch it.”
Meanwhile, Auckland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme clinical director Dr Anthony Jordan said communities in the region were well prepared for the rollout.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming families along to our vaccination centres, and will have activities available to help make children feel more comfortable and keep them busy, like word finders, colouring-in, stickers and certificates.”
There are 55 close contacts of the border-worker Covid case. The Ministry of Health said 15 of those contacts had already returned a negative test result, including five contacts in Taupō.
“Among the close contacts are 39 people who were on two bus trips with the case. The MIQ worker on the bus trips was wearing their mask throughout both journeys.”
Whole-genome sequencing has linked the worker to two returnees at MIQ who had arrived from India on January 8.
The best thing a parent can do to prepare their children to be immunised is to talk to them about what is going to happen.
Dr Jin Russell, paediatric consultant