Vaccine gaps on front line

More than a quarter of Air New Zealand’s frontline staff have not had a single Covid-19 dose and the Government does not know how many other border workers are unvaccinated, months after the top priority group was first offered the vaccine.

A new Health Order that mandates border workers must have had at least their first Covid19 vaccine covers only border workers employed by the Government and not the ‘‘wider border workforce’’. So it misses roles such as airline staff and port workers. All managed isolation and quarantine staff are covered by the order.

About 1120 out of 4000 – or 28 per cent – frontline Air New Zealand staff across the country have not been vaccinated. The airline accounted for a large tranche of unvaccinated border staff, which in Wellington sat at between 30 and 40 per cent, according to Capital & Coast District Health Board.

It was a ‘‘weak link’’ in the Government’s vaccine rollout, epidemiologist Michael Baker said. He called for a consistent approach across high-risk occupations and for the staff to be vaccinated or moved from the front line.

‘‘I don’t think there is any excuse. We should have finished [vaccinating] the first group now,’’ he said.

‘‘We know that Air New Zealand staff have been infected before overseas and sometimes the sources have never been identified. That is the nature of this virus. We don’t want to see

mystery cases cropping up in Air New Zealand staff.’’

University of Auckland vaccinologist associate professor Helen Petousis-Harris said the airline staff were at higher risk and needed to be immunised.

‘‘If these people are genuinely on the front line ... then I think they really do need to be vaccinated because they can pose a greater risk to the rest of the community as well as themselves,’’ she said.

‘‘We have set a good precedent with MIQ workers. We just need to roll that out with all other high-risk occupations.’’

National director of the Covid-19 vaccine and immunisation programme Jo Gibbs could not confirm how many border workers were yet to be vaccinated, or where in New Zealand they are, but said the Ministry of Health was looking to improve the data.

The Covid-19

Public Health

Response

(Vaccinations)

Order 2021 does not cover the wider border workforce, but people in group one are still being vaccinated. Meanwhile, the number of people in group one fluctuated as people start and leave jobs, Gibbs said.

In Wellington, 97 per cent of the eligible health workforce in group two had been vaccinated but staff who refused the vaccine could be redeployed to low-risk work, said Rachel Haggerty, the board’s director of strategy, planning and performance.

About 72 per cent of eligible frontline Air New Zealand staff had at least one dose and almost 60 per cent of frontline workers were fully vaccinated, Air New Zealand’s chief operational integrity and safety officer David Morgan said in a statement.

‘‘It is important to note that the vaccine is not currently mandatory for our employees but is required for some duties, specifically crewing of MIQ flights from April 30.’’

An Auckland woman who processed laundry for airlines tested positive for the virus alongside her daughter and partner in February.

All operational staff had at least their first vaccine at Wellington Airport, which is only operating green flights, as of last month, general manager of corporate affairs Jenna Raeburn said.

The majority of customs officers around the country had also been fully vaccinated, New Zealand Customs Service senior communications adviser Anna Kellett said.

‘‘If these people are genuinely on the front line . . . they really do need to be vaccinated.’’ Helen Petousis-Harris University of Auckland