Chch airport border workers vaccinated

CHRISTCHURCH: About 40 border workers from Christchurch Airport were vaccinated yesterday as the Covid19 immunisation programme starts rolling out in the South Island.

Auckland workers were the first in the country to get the PfizerBioNTech injections on Saturday and the programme began in Wellington on Monday.

On Tuesday, 35 of the Canterbury vaccination team gave and received the vaccine to prepare for yesterday’s rollout.

About 20% of New Zealand’s border and MIQ workforce are based in Canterbury, according to the Ministry of Health.

Canterbury District Health Board clinician Dr Alan Pithie said the introduction of the programme in Canterbury was an important milestone.

‘‘This is just the start of the vaccination rollout and we are confident that the system we have created is robust and efficient.

‘‘This is obviously a new situation for everyone, but it is incredibly important that we complete this first phase as quickly as possible,’’ he said.

The Christchurch Airport workers, who included aviation security staff, cleaners, police, customs workers and health protection officers, took their first dose at a nearby communitybased testing centre.

Covid19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said about 1000 border workers and vaccinators in total had now received their first dose.

‘‘That’s a great start and we appreciate the effort of the vaccinators and border workers,’’ Mr Hipkins said in a statement.

The number of vaccines being administered would gradually scale up, he said.

Further shipments of vaccines could be expected ‘‘over the coming weeks’’.

‘‘By the end of March, we’re due to receive a total of about 450,000 doses — enough to vaccinate 225,000 people with a twodose course.’’

The immunisation programme aims to have all New Zealand’s 12,000 border and managed isolation and quarantine staff vaccinated first, followed by their household contacts. — RNZ