Around the country, Kiwis talk about struggles to get vaccinated

Yes, I did nearly put it in the ‘too hard’

basket. Hannah, partner of a frontline worker

Kiwis are sharing their struggles to access the Covid-19 vaccine as the Government continues to back its rollout.

Peta Logan’s 91-year-old mother Betty, who suffers from dementia, lives in a Pukekohe rest home and is in group two of New Zealand’s vaccine rollout — for whom vaccination started in March.

However, Peta said she only received the consent form for her mother’s vaccination about two weeks ago. Rest home staff confirmed this timeline and said they were unsure when residents would be vaccinated.

Peta, 58, expressed her desire to see her Mum protected against the virus.

“[Mum] is 91, so a very, very vulnerable age group and I just think, ‘Let me err on the side of caution and make sure that she’s protected, make sure I’ve done all I can from my side’.”

Frontline border and managed isolation workers, and their wha¯nau, comprised group one of the rollout. On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 86 per cent of frontline workers had received at least one Covid vaccination jab to date.

Peta said she was concerned about the Government’s timeline, considering group three — people who are at risk of getting very sick from the virus — were set to be vaccinated from May.

“They’ve only got two weeks to go until it’s May, so they better get a move on to get group two vaccinated.”

Hannah, a partner of a frontline worker and did not want her real name used, described her six-week battle to get a vaccination as part of the rollout’s first group.

Hannah’s partner worked away from home and when he was vaccinated in early March, he was given a form for Hannah to arrange her own vaccination.

Hannah then received a call from the DHB her partner worked in, which was more than 300km away, asking the mother of two to come in for a vaccination appointment.

“I said, ‘Well I just simply can’t’,” Hannah said.

“I explained the situation and [the DHB staffer] was just unable to offer me anything other than, ‘We will cross you off our list and not contact you again and the best thing you can do is contact your local DHB’.”

Upon calling her own DHB, Hannah could only leave a message with the relevant personnel, which had not yet been returned.

Hannah was only able to secure a vaccination appointment this coming weekend after contacting a friend whose partner also worked on the border, who then gave Hannah the right contact information.

Hannah felt there should be a protocol which allowed effective communication between DHBs to ensure people like her didn’t fall through the cracks.

“It’s definitely a relief [to get an appointment] because I did want to be vaccinated . . . but yes, I did nearly put it in the ‘too hard’ basket.”

Kereama, a 75-year-old Dunedin man who worked part-time as a courier transporting Covid swabs among other things to a medical laboratory, is in the rollout’s second group.

On April 1, he was directed to a website by his employer which allowed him to register for vaccination. After entering his details, Kereama was told his appointment was on Friday last week , and he would receive a text message to confirm.

When he didn’t receive a text, Kereama thought he’d be proactive and go to the vaccination centre at Meridian Mall. However, he was then told he could not get vaccinated as he didn’t have an appointment.

Kereama said he was told by the nurse at the centre that there was no communication between vaccination staff and the private company which handled the text notification process.

Kereama, now waiting for more news on another appointment, said he felt annoyed by the unnecessary delay.

Southern DHB vaccine rollout controller Hamish Brown said a new booking system was being prepared where people would be able to book times directly and receive immediate confirmation of their appointment.

However, he said it was an interim solution until the Ministry of Health implemented a nationwide booking system.