NZ above its target for vaccine

The Government hit 103 per cent of its Covid-19 vaccine target last week, with over 300,000 doses now administered.

But some district health boards are still struggling to hit their targets.

Newly released data from the Ministry of Health shows that 217,603 people had had their first dose of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine as of Tuesday night. Another 87,297 have had their second dose, which is taken at least three weeks after the first for maximum effectiveness.

As of Sunday night – which the weekly targets are set to – this was 103 per cent of the planned vaccine rollout across the nation.

On May 1, another 1.7 million people became eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, including everyone over age 65, but there are nowhere near enough supplies for all of them to get the jab immediately.

The Government had almost 400,000 doses on hand at the end of the week, or enough for about 200,000 people – less than the 445,000 on hand the week prior.

The DHBs that have been struggling to meet their targets were still behind, but by less than they were last week. Northland was at

70 per cent of its target, up from 62 per cent the week prior. Meanwhile, MidCentral DHB around Palmerston North was ahead of the pack with 150 per cent of its target. The Auckland Metro DHBs were about 4700 behind their target, or 96 per cent of their plan, while Capital and Coast in Wellington was at 110 per cent.