The number of covid-19 vaccinations given out during New Zealand’s Super Saturday event yesterday has just ticked over the 130,000 mark.

In a statement this afternoon – in which it was confirmed there were 51 new community cases today – the Health Ministry said a total of 130,002 doses were given out across the country yesterday.

They included 39,025 first doses and 90,977 second doses.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the record-breaking numbers provided a “huge boost” to New Zealand’s fight against the coronavirus.

“People across the motu embraced Super Saturday like their communities’ lives depended on it. It was inspiring to witness as we know the Covid-19 vaccine is key to our efforts to control the virus,” he said.

Dr Bloomfield said Auckland did “incredibly well” with 41,081 people vaccinated there yesterday, including 9,039 first doses and 32,042 second doses.

“They’ve hit 89 percent of their eligible population who have had their first dose and are tantalisingly close to reaching 90 percent,” he said.

‘Get vaccinated asap’ plea
“I continue to urge everyone in Auckland who hasn’t received their first vaccination to get vaccinated as soon as possible. And remember, we’re not stopping at 90 percent – the higher, the better for everyone.”

There has now been a total of 6314,182 doses given in New Zealand – 3,565,822 (85 percent) first doses and 2,748,360 (65 percent) second doses.

Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker today called for more mass vaccination events, saying the first one united the country.

The Health Ministry confirmed 51 new community cases today, including four in Waikato.

There was no media conference today.

In its statement, the ministry said two of the Waikato cases were linked to earlier cases and they are investigating any links the other two may have.

“One lives in Hamilton and the other has an address in Kihikihi. It is possible that the Kihikihi case is the source of the wastewater detections in Te Awamutu, however this has not yet been confirmed.”

23 cases remain unlinked
It said 28 of today’s 51 cases were linked, of whom 18 were household contacts, and 23 remained unlinked with investigations continuing.

The ministry also said it could also confirm that there was one household in the area Wellsford with cases, after two positive detections in wastewater.

“Wellsford residents are urged to remain vigilant and get tested if they have any symptoms.”

There were 41 new community cases yesterday, all in Auckland except for one that was identified in Waikato.

There have now been 1945 cases in the current outbreak, and 4632 in this country since the pandemic began.

There are 29 people in hospital, including five in intensive care.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Ka pai Aotearoa, we’ve reached 100,000 COVID-19 doses for #SuperSaturday! pic.twitter.com/VBdTw8ab3R

— Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora (@minhealthnz) October 16, 2021

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More than 120 extra vaccination sites will be open for New Zealand’s ‘Super Saturday’ event tomorrow, with the Ministry of Health saying vaccines remain the country’s “number one protection against covid-19”, reports RNZ News.

The Vaxathon — New Zealand’s first — aims to boost vaccination numbers by around 100,000.

The event will run from 12pm to 8pm on Saturday and will be broadcast on multiple platforms, including TV3, Māori Television and on Hahana’s Facebook page.

Well-known celebrities, influencers and health professionals will front the live broadcast to help capture the atmosphere and experiences of those receiving their first or second vaccine.

RNZ will be providing on air and online coverage, including a live blog, from across the nation.

More about Super Saturday here.

All of today’s 65 new community cases in New Zealand were recorded in Auckland.

There was no media conference today. In a statement, the ministry said 34 of these cases were linked, 10 were household contacts, and 31 remained unlinked with investigations continuing.

There have been 107 unlinked cases in the past 14 days.

While the cases were all in Tāmaki Makaurau, a second test for covid-19 in Te Awamutu’s wastewater returned a positive result.

The sample was taken on Wednesday, after detection of covid-19 in wastewater on Tuesday.

As part of the effort to get everyone in Aotearoa vaccinated against COVID-19, a dedicated team has been put in place to support people with disabilities to access the vaccine. ? Read more about these important services here: https://t.co/qMzckiq0We pic.twitter.com/Kp68QQojYQ

— Ministry for Pacific Peoples (@Pacific_Peoples) October 12, 2021

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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The calls for New Zealanders to get vaccinated are becoming more urgent by the day as covid-19 embeds itself in the community.

Two people have now died in the latest outbreak, the number of daily cases remains in the double figures and the virus continues to spread outside Auckland.

The government has announced a nationwide immunisation push for October 16 — dubbed Super Saturday — but one of Auckland’s leading Māori vaccinators is questioning what it will achieve.

Te Whānau o Waipareira runs two mass vaccination centres, and has given tens of thousands of Aucklanders their Pfizer shots.

Chief executive John Tamihere said the first he heard of Super Saturday was when Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced it at a media conference, saying it would be like election day, with clinics open all day and into the night

Tamihere said that would not cut it when it came to getting vaccine stragglers.

“They won’t necessarily turn up, the ones they are endeavouring to target. We have to go out into the streets and take each suburb street by street and to do that you’ve got to know where you’re sending and deploying your resources,” Tamihere said.

More resources rather than big show
“We would probably put a lot more resource into that campaign as opposed to big show days.”

The Ministry of Health today reported 29 new cases of covid-19 in the community, including five in Waikato.

Speaking at today’s government briefing, Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said seven of the new cases in Auckland were yet to be linked to earlier cases, all of the Waikato cases were linked.

Yesterday, the death of a 57-year-old man from covid-19 was reported, along with 39 new cases in the community. Nine of those were in Waikato.

There have now been 22 cases in Waikato in the current outbreak.

One previous community case has been reclassified as under investigation, bringing the total cases in the outbreak to 1448.

There were also two cases detected in MIQ reported today.

7000 receive drive-through dose
But the recent six-day vaccination event at Vodafone Events Centre is being hailed a success after 7000 people received a drive-through dose.

Among them, many church members of the Assemblies of God Church of Sāmoa who know first-hand the harsh reality of the virus.

A father of seven who lost his battle with covid yesterday was a deacon at the church, and his wife is also in hospital with the disease.

Church spokesperson Jerome Mika said the community was grieving.

He said many members had been vaccinated at the drive-through event in the past few days which was a success due to the many community groups that had supported it.

“Community willingness to be able to just support and encourage their family members to come and get vaccinated.”

The experts agree.

Māori and Pacific leaders a must
Victoria University of Wellington immunologist Diane Sika-Paotonu said to be effective, any vaccination campaign must include Māori and Pacific leaders.

“They’re not just being called in right at the end to help make things work but rather they’re involved right from the outset at the design stage of any activities, events and interventions that are being planned.”

But one group argues they need the right information for that model to work.

Tamihere also heads the North Island’s Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency.

It is taking the Ministry of Health to court for refusing to hand over health data for all Māori that he said was vital to closing the “dangerous gap” in the vaccination rates.

It sits at just over 57 percent for a first dose compared with 81 percent of Pākehā.

“Tai Tokerau is way behind, the Bay of Plenty is way behind. These are Māori communities. It’s not that they’re stupid and dumb, it’s that they’re poorer and their priorities are different and it takes time to reach them.”

The Ministry of Health said it could not share the data because many of the people were not enrolled with Whānau Ora so officials were not authorised to hand it over.

The ministry will release information today on the most and least vaccinated suburbs in the country.

Yesterday 63,000 people were vaccinated as rates climb again after a month long dip.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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New Zealanders need to pitch in for a final push to get as many people vaccinated as possible, says the Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, who has announced a new “national day of action” for vaccinations.

Hipkins and Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay gave today’s update on the fight against covid-19.

There were 39 new community cases in New Zealand today — including nine in Waikato — although just one is not yet linked to earlier cases.

There were 24 community cases yesterday.

Half of eligible Kiwis have been vaccinated and at least 85 percent of Aucklanders have received at least one dose.

But Hipkins said everyone had a role to to play in getting vaccination rates up, and he wanted those already vaccinated to help those who had not been to get a dose.

“This will culminate in a national day for vaccination on Saturday 16 October — Super Saturday.

“On that day, we will have vaccine clinics open all through Aotearoa all day and into the evening and a bit like election day, we will be asking all our civic and political leaders to contribute to a big effort to turn people out.”

Tomorrow, maps showing suburbs with lowest vaccination rates will be published.

Watch the briefing

Video: RNZ News

“This will be helping local iwi, who have been pushing for this, our local communities, and our local MPs to work together to mobilise their communities.”

A website will be going live later today with information about the Saturday event.

“My request to everybody is this: Pitch in and get this done.”

Hipkins said the new cases outside the Auckland border were “stark reminder of how tricky the virus can be”.

“Our strategy to date of keeping covid-19 out has served us well, but we can’t keep doing that forever,” he said.

“As the prime minister said on Monday, getting back to zero cases of covid-19 in the community is unlikely. We need to prepare for a gradual transition to the next phase of our covid-19 response.”

At yesterday’s 1pm briefing, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Cabinet had agreed to the use of vaccine certificates in New Zealand.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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