LGNZ ‘strongly encourages’ vaccination
Sixty-seven per cent of Northland’s local government politicians can be confirmed to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 – as the region’s first Omicron community cases arrive.
Local Democracy Reporting sought to confirm the vaccination for all Northland’s 61 publicly elected local government representatives across four councils and three community boards.
But it has been able to do so for only 41 out of 61 elected representatives, or 67 per cent.
All the 41 Northland local government politicians whose vaccination status can be confirmed by
Local Democracy Reporting are fully vaccinated, many with booster shots too.
Northland’s ratepayer-funded and publicly elected local government politicians represent four councils and three community boards. Councillors helm the governance of Far North District Council, Kaipara District Council, Whangārei District Council and Northland Regional Council, with between the councils, more than 1000 staff.
The vaccination status for 20 of Northland’s leaders have not yet been confirmed.
Local Government New Zealand chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said it strongly encouraged its members, as community leaders, to follow public policy advice around Covid-19 such as getting vaccinated and boosted.
Local Democracy Reporting sought vaccination status information from the sector, made up of key community local political leaders.
It sought the information as part of the region’s ongoing push towards reaching at least the 90 per cent double-vaccinated milestone. Northland is one of three district health boards, out of 20 nationally, still to reach that figure.
Former Whangārei District councillor Robin Lieffering said it should not be difficult for residents and ratepayers wanting to know vaccination status of councillors and community board members.
Ratepayers deserved to know whether those they elected were vaccinated, she said.
Northland’s three mayors can be confirmed as at least double vaccinated, and across the four councils, 30 of 42 councillors are fully vaccinated.
Kaipara mayor Dr Jason Smith has confirmed he will get his booster next month, when he becomes eligible. Far North acting mayor Ann Court has confirmed she is double vaccinated and will be getting her booster later this month.
The Northland Regional Council has consistently refused to provide information to Local Democracy Reporting on councillor vaccination numbers and or status – including whether representatives are unvaccinated.
Whangārei mayor Sheryl Mai said 12 of her 13 councillors had last week indicated to her they were fully vaccinated, with one exercising the right not to reveal their vaccination status. Mai did not specify any names.
‘‘Eight councillors were triple-vaccinated, four double-vaccinated and one withheld vaccination status information, as was their right,’’ Mai said.
She said councillor Covid-19 vaccinations had not been mandated by the Government, hence there was no legal requirement for elected representatives to disclose their vaccination status. It had, as a result, made no official record of this.
‘‘As a democratic organisation, we also hold that personal choice must be respected where there is no mandate. We will continue to use masks when meeting in person, hold meetings online when necessary and advocate to our community to follow government guidelines as they evolve,’’ Mai said.
Local Democracy can confirm Mai, Whangārei deputy mayor Greg Innes, and councillors Gavin
A robust Covid-19 prevention and control plan has prevented any known transmission of coronavirus in prisons, according to the Department of Corrections.
The information comes as seven prison staff and four close contacts at Northland Region Corrections Facility are isolating after a prisoner tested positive for Covid-19.
Prison director David Pattinson said the unvaccinated man arrived at the prison in Northland’s Ngāwhā on January 28.
On arrival, he was given a rapid antigen test (RAT), which was negative. A follow-up PCR test was administered on January 29, which returned a positive result on January 31
‘‘The prisoner has been moved into quarantine while four close contacts have been identified and have been isolated and getting tested as required.’’
Seven prison staff were also close contacts, but the prison was able to cover those positions while they self-isolated, Pattinson said.
Public health, and key partners such as First Security and police, had been notified, he said.
The man was tested as part of Corrections’ management plan for Covid-19, which had been in place since March 2020 to help prevent the deaths seen in prisons overseas, Pattinson said.
‘‘As we have seen in prisons internationally, the impact can be devastating. We have a duty of care to the men and women we manage in prisons, and to our staff, and we are well prepared for this situation.’’
The plans include keeping new prisoners to the facility away from longer-serving prisoners for their first 14 days in custody, where they undergo routine testing at least three times.
Prison staff are required to wear masks at all times while on site, and staff interacting with new prisoners wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
Prisoners can be provided with PPE, but its use is not enforced at this stage. Thermal cameras are also used as people enter prison, to help identify anyone with symptoms, and there is extra cleaning of prisoner escort vehicles and the receiving office.
Pattinson said with the positive result at Ngāwhā, deep cleaning was being arranged. ‘‘There have still been no cases of Covid-19 in prisons with known transmission between staff or prisoners.’’
A vaccine mandate for prison staff, which came into effect in December, resulted in 78 employees having their employment terminated, but just 70 per cent of prisoners have received two doses of the vaccine.
Corrections now publishes a daily record of its Covid-19 cases, which shows there are five active cases in prisons – the one at Northland, two at Waikato’s Spring Hill Corrections Facility, and two at Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility, where a worker tested positive in December.
Of those five people, four are unvaccinated and one person’s vaccination status is unknown.
Since March 2020, Corrections has managed 82 cases of Covid-19, with no transmission confirmed through genome sequencing.
In December, Corrections updated its Covid-19 policy to help cope with more transmissible variants, like Omicron.
The plan involves three stages of restrictions, depending on how widespread the virus is, with the most restrictive stage reserved for when there is a very high level of community transmission and positive cases are no longer confined to the prison’s quarantine units.
At this stage, there will be no face-to-face visits for personal or legal reasons, although phone or video calls will be allowed. Rehabilitation and release-to-work programmes will pause, and prisoners will be enforced to wear PPE.
Vulnerable prisoners will be shielded with separate bubbles.
Benney, Ken Couper, Shelley Deeming, Phil Halse, Carol Peters, Simon Reid and Vince Cocurullo are all at least double vaccinated, with some also having booster shots.
In the Far North, mayor John Carter, deputy mayor Ann Court, and councillors David Clendon, Mate Radich, Rachel Smith, Kelly Stratford, Moko Tepania and John Vujcich are also all double-vaccinated, with booster shots on board or on the agenda upon eligibility.
Local Democracy can also confirm Kaipara mayor Smith, deputy mayor Anna Curnow, and councillors Jonathan Larsen, Karen Joyce-Paki, Mark Vincent, David Wells, Peter Wethey and Eryn Wilson-Collins are all at least doublevaccinated with some also having booster shots or doing so upon becoming eligible.
Northland Regional Council chairperson Penny Smart did not specify how many of her councillors among deputy chairperson Justin Blaikie, Terry Archer, Jack Craw, Colin ‘‘Toss’’ Kitchen, Amy Macdonald, Marty Robinson, Rick Stolwerk and Joce Yeoman were fully vaccinated – or unvaccinated.
She has not specified this information when previously approached, but Local Democracy can confirm Kitchen, who is also a veteran firefighter, is fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Local Democracy can confirm that of 19 non-councillor representatives on the Far North District Council’s three community boards – Bay of Islands/Whangaroa, Kaikohe/Hokianga and Te Hiku – 11 are at least double-vaccinated with booster shots for almost all.
‘‘We have a duty of care to the men and women we manage in prisons.’’ David Pattinson, prison director
‘‘I would hope everybody gets vaccinated.’’ Emma Davis Kaikohe/Hokianga Community Board deputy chairperson
The entire Te Hiku Community Board can be confirmed as fully vaccinated. Adele Gardner (chairperson), Jaqi Brown (deputy chairperson), Darren Axe, Sheryl Bainbridge, John Stewart and Bill Subritzky are all at least doublevaccinated with booster shots on board, or pending.
Axe, the board’s North Cape representative from Pukenui, said everybody should be getting two vaccination shots and a booster.
For the Kaikohe/Hokianga Community Board, one person can be confirmed as fully vaccinated out of its six elected non-councillor members. Deputy chairperson Emma Davis (Ngāti Awa/Ngāti Pikiao), and North Hokianga representative, is triple vaccinated.
She was the only non-councillor representative to respond.
‘‘I would hope everybody gets vaccinated. It’s important, to look after our babies,’’ Davis said.
For the Bay of Islands/ Whangaroa Community Board members, four out of seven noncouncillor members responded to Local Democracy inquiries. The respondents are all at least doublevaccinated, with additional booster shot the norm for chairperson Belinda Ward, Layne Ayr, Manuela Gmuer-Hornell and Bruce Mills.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air