Covid-19 vaccination centres in rural areas of the Southern district will begin vaccinating those in group three of the Ministry of Health’s sequencing framework from May 17. 

Group three includes those aged 65 or over, those with a relevant underlying health condition, disabled people, pregnant women and adults in custodial settings.

“Due to the smaller populations in some of our rural areas, we have been able to progress through group two vaccines more quickly..,” Southern District Health Board (SDHB) Covid-19 vaccine rollout incident controller Hamish Brown said, adding it was efficient to expand eligibility to the older population and people with relevant health conditions.

The Covid-19 immunisation programme team is working closely with general practices and pharmacies who will play an important role in building an equitable and efficient model of distribution as the vaccine programme scales up.

The SDHB is piloting a new online booking system which allows people to select a convenient date, time; book it immediately; and change appointments themselves. It requires users to book first and second doses simultaneously, ensuring people leave the required minimum 21 days between doses.

Access to this booking system will be circulated to the eligible group three population through various channels, including health providers, as the rollout progresses across the region. 

Vaccination providers will have the capability to make appointments on behalf of those unable to use the online system, and a call centre is also provided to assist with bookings where needed.

Hamish commended the teams who had been working hard behind the scenes to get the system off the ground.

“The rollout of the vaccine is progressing well across the district, surpassing 25,000 vaccines this week,” he said.

“As we work our way through the priority groups and scale up our delivery, it is important to have the right tools to manage those numbers and this booking system is an important part of that.”

PHOTO: Supplied