I’m pleased to say that our Well Being Budgets are securing a strong recovery and allowing the Government to focus on the top priority of protecting the country from COVID. That means keeping the virus out of our communities, and rolling out safe, effective and free vaccines to everyone in New Zealand.
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Many countries around the world are still reporting surges of new COVID cases, and it’s clear that we’re going to be living with the impact of this pandemic for some time.
Our border measures and managed isolation and quarantine facilities continue to serve us well. But I know we cannot afford to become complacent.
It’s good to see that people are sticking to the basics. Little things like staying home when you’re sick, practising good hygiene, keeping track of where you’ve been, and wearing face coverings on public transport can make a big difference.
Just as last year our team of five million stayed home to save lives, this year the team is stepping up to be vaccinated.
The Government has secured enough Pfizer vaccine for the whole country, and our vaccine roll-out plan is helping us to reach the New Zealanders most at risk first, before rolling it out to the wider population.
Nearly one million doses of the vaccine have been administered, with more than 300,000 people fully vaccinated. Last week across the country we were tracking around 60,000 doses ahead of plan. We’re currently focussed on Group 3.
The Prime Minister has also shared more information about the next phase in our vaccine roll-out. From the end of July we’ll start receiving the bulk of our 10 million vaccine doses and can broaden our roll-out to the wider population.
This will be done in age groups, as is common overseas. It’s an approach that is easy to understand and acknowledges the increasing risk COVID poses to people as they get older.
New Zealanders will be offered vaccines in stages: people over 60 from 28 July, people over 55 from 11 August, people over 45 from mid to late August, people over 35 from mid to late September, and everyone else from October.
When it’s your turn to be vaccinated the Ministry of Health will invite you – either by email, text, letter or phone call – to make a booking. You can then arrange to receive your first and second doses using the new national booking system, accessible online and over the phone.
Getting New Zealanders immunised is first and foremost about keeping you, your family and community safe, but it also has economic benefits, allowing us to avoid costly lockdowns and to gradually start reopening the border when it’s safe to do so.
This is the biggest and most complex vaccination campaign New Zealand has ever run, and it is tracking well. There’s an enormous amount of work going on to get everything lined up for the second half of the year.
You can expect to be offered vaccines by the year’s end. We’re securing our recovery and there is plenty to look forward to. – Marja Lubeck, Labour list MP based in Kaipara ki Mahurangi