Vaccine delivery logisticsworrying
A doctor who received the Covid-19 vaccine is keen to promote it as safe and effective, but remains concerned about the logistics of delivering New Zealand’s largest immunisation programme.
Doctors, nurses and other staff at Feilding Health Care received their initial dose of the Covid-19 vaccine yesterday.
Bruce Stewart and Karl Gilchrist were among the first doctors to receive it and afterwards, said they felt fine.
Stewart, who was also the centre’s clinical leader, said many concerns about the vaccine were misinformed.
He often fielded calls from patients and acquaintances seeking his opinion.
‘‘It’s very safe, very effective, and everyone should have it,’’ he said. ‘‘For six months now, millions of people around the world have been getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.’’
Gilchrist said a vaccine such as this was easy to develop during a pandemic, because the international scientific community was collaborating. There were tens of thousands of people infected with Covid-19 who volunteered to be a part of the development process.
He said the vaccine was backed by over a decade of research which began after the 2002-04 SARS outbreak, which infected just over 8000 people across 29 countries.
Stewart said Covid-19was ‘‘like SARS on steroids’’, but the Pfizer vaccinewas an exciting development.
Stewart raised concerns over Feilding Health Care’s capacity to vaccinate the next group in May.
He said 5000 patients enrolled at Feilding Health Care were part of this group, and it would need additional staff to ensure it could vaccinate everyone while meeting other patients’ needs.
Healthcare workers were included in group 2 of the Government’s Covid-19 rollout plan.
Group 1was the smallest, with only 1500 border and managed isolation and quarantine workers from Manawatu¯, plus the people they live with.
Group 2 had 9400 members from Manawatu¯, and these included healthcare workers and people living in high-risk places such as aged care facilities.
Group 3 begin vaccinations in May and include 50,800 people from Manawatu¯ who are deemed high-risk. This includes the elderly, disabled and those with relevant underlying health conditions.
The final group is the general public, and includes the remaining 82,000 residents covered under the Midcentral District Health Board who are over the age of 16.