Answers to your COVID-19 vaccine questions

Here are the answers to your frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, the plan, and how it will roll out for our whānau and our communities:

When will people over 65 be vaccinated?

Everybody aged over 65 is in Group 3. Vaccination for this group starts from late May and will continue over the next few months. Some people over 65 will already have been vaccinated – particularly older Māori and Pacific people cared for by their whānau, some people in aged residential care, as well as older people living in the Counties Manukau District Health Board area.

Each district health board (DHB) around Aotearoa is managing the rollout of the vaccine in their area. If you’re aged 65 and over, when it’s your turn, you will be notified by your DHB or local health provider to book your appointment.

When you book in for your first dose, you will also be given an appointment time for your second dose.

Group 3 also includes people with disabilities, pregnant people and people with underlying health conditions.

Making sure the rollout is flexible

To ensure we get the vaccine out to our communities as fast and efficiently as possible, and to make sure no vaccine is wasted, there will be some overlap between groups.

You can find out more about the rollout, and see what vaccination group you are in at Covid19.govt.nz/vaccines

How effective is the vaccine, and what does 95% mean?

This vaccine is highly effective if people have both doses. What this means is that if you do catch COVID-19, you are far less likely to fall seriously ill or transmit the virus to others. Studies have shown that 95% of people who received both doses of the vaccine were protected from symptomatic disease (this means not getting even mild symptoms), and more than 95% effective against severe disease.

What is immunity and how does it protect us?

Immunity is how well your body can fight off harmful infections and each of us has a unique way of responding to infection. Being vaccinated teaches our immune system to recognise an infectious disease, so that when we are exposed to that disease our immune system can fight it off.

Ensuring you get two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine means your immune response is even stronger and gives you the best possible protection.

Community immunity is when many people in a community have immune protection, meaning infectious diseases are much less able to spread, so the vaccination ‘breaks the chain of transmission’, much like the lockdown did in early 2020. Put simply, the vaccine protects you, your whānau and your community.

What are the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine?

You might experience some side effects 1-2 days after getting your vaccination such as pain at the vaccination site, aches and pain, headaches or fever. This is common, and a sign your immune system is learning to fight the virus.

The vaccine is being very closely monitored for safety. So far, the majority of reported side effects following vaccination, are what we would expect. Signals of new side effects can be detected at any time, and will continue to be monitored for safety.

Will we be vaccinating people aged under 16 years?

Pfizer vaccine trials are complete for 12-15 year olds overseas. The results of those trials will be provided to Medsafe, which will evaluate the evidence on vaccine safety and efficacy in this age group.