A number of Wānaka locals are out of work as a result of the government’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate, the deadline for which was midnight on Monday (November 15).

It has been estimated that the Health Order outlining the mandates will affect about 40 percent of New Zealand’s workforce.

The Wānaka App checked in with local providers of health and disability services and education to find out how many people were prepared to lose their jobs over the mandate. The result was a mixed picture.

Impact on health services

Local social media posts have lamented the loss of Dr Mark Edmond from Aspiring Medical Centre as a result of the mandate. Aspiring manager Caroline Stark told the Wānaka App the practice was complying with the vaccination order. 

“We are not in a position to provide further comment due to people’s right to privacy,” she said. 

Wānaka Medical Centre said no staff had resigned as a result of the mandate.

The Southern District Health Board (SDHB) said services are responding to lower staffing levels this week, and essential home and community support services that enable people to stay safely at home will be a priority.

It is not yet known how many home and community support staff have chosen not to be vaccinated, and the exact impact this will have on services, the SDHB said.

SDHB community services general manager Glenn Symon said the reduction of staff due to the Health Order compounds existing staff challenges in the sector.

“Due to the mandatory vaccination order, which has been legislated to keep our population safe and allow our health system to continue to function, a number of health and disability support workers have chosen not to be vaccinated and as a result will not continue their jobs.”

He said the SDHB is also experiencing higher than historical sick leave, as staff are staying at home when they are unwell, and as replacement workforce is not readily available, providers may need to reduce services. 

“Until our workforce is able to recover, which may take a number of months, we will need to prioritise those supports which are essential to keeping our population safe at home. This may mean reducing or stopping household management services and reducing the number of visits to some clients.” 

Presbyterian Support Otago, which manages Elmslie House and the Aspiring Enliven Care Centre, did not respond directly to the Wānaka App’s questions about the loss of staff.

“We have a handful of staff we are currently working with who are at this point choosing not to be vaccinated, and we are progressing with the development and implementation of a vaccination policy across the organisation,” CEO Jo Rowe said.

School staff and ECEs

The Wānaka App asked all the local schools how many staff, if any, had resigned as a result of the Health Order.

Wānaka Primary School principal Wendy Bamford said there were “no issues”, and Hāwea Flat School principal Tania Pringle declined to comment. There was no response from Te Kura O Take Kārara or Holy Family School.

The Wānaka App is aware that at least a couple of Mount Aspiring College (MAC) teachers have not been at school since Monday but MAC principal Nicola Jacobsen said she couldn’t comment due to privacy issues.

In terms of local early childhood education centres (ECEs), Wānaka Preschool manager Lo Stevenson said there were no staff losses as all their staff are fully vaccinated.

It was a different story at Kanuka Corner, in Lake Hāwea, where the relatively small ECE was “hit quite hard” by the Health Order.

Manager Anique Williams told the Wānaka App that two qualified teachers from the centre’s ten staff had left as a result of the mandate.

One has retired and the other has been stood down awaiting her decision.

“It was a long process with lots of talking. We were mindful about not being divided as a team,” Anique said. 

“There’s a critical shortage of ECE teachers anyway and this has not helped. It’s rough on a lot of people, and it’s rough on the children as their familiar and trusted teacher is no longer with them,” she said.

Anique said the process had not been helped by the fact the Ministry of Education was slow to give them the relevant information. 

“It has been handled poorly with the disconnect between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education.”

Anique said there are a lot of families in the community with immunocompromised members who have to interact with schools and ECEs.

“It was their [the teachers’] choice, and that was the consequence. It’s really sad.”