I try to write about general issues of importance, in a general – indeed global – context. This time I will write just about me.

I am the same age as Phil Goff, Mayor of Auckland. And I want to be appropriately protected from Covid19. I have had three shots of the Pfizer Covid19 vaccine. My most recent vaccination – the so-called booster – was on the first of February this year. On 27 June I enquired about getting another ‘booster’ shot on Tuesday 28 June, before going away ‘on holiday’ on 30 June. I was not allowed to, because of a set of rules that have never been adequately explained. (RNZ‘s Kathryn Ryan tried to ask an expert on 13 July, but gave up in frustration.) The best I could do was to get a vaccination booking at my local Health Centre, for Wednesday 3 August.

(Between 28 June and 3 August, about 700 people in New Zealand will have died with Covid19. The substantial majority of these are Pakeha aged over 70 who received a booster vaccination ahead of the March wave of Covid19, and who have died (or will soon die) of Covid19. How many of these are dying for want of a vaccine booster?A rhetorical question. But the answer will be that at least one of these would have had a booster had they been allowed.)

I am classed as being in the ‘vulnerable age group’. Now, I’m not ‘very old’. But if I was the same age as Joe Biden, or even Jimmy Carter, I would also have been refused. I’ll bet that Jimmy Carter faced no impediments in getting a fourth vaccination shot. But Jim Bolger will have had to wait.

Anyway, I continue to be one of the dwindling number of people who has yet to get Covid19. Today, I asked if I could get my vaccination booking brought forward to Monday 1 August. “No”, they said, “we only do Covid19 vaccinations on Wednesdays and Thursdays”.

So I went to the local shopping mall. At the first pharmacy, I asked if I could come in for a vaccine on Monday 1 August? They said I could ‘walk-in’ any time from Tuesday 2 August. Why not Monday I asked; after-all Monday will be six months since my previous shot. They said I had to wait six months plus one day!! I asked why the Ministry of Health (MoH) requires that I wait that extra day. They had no answer.

So I went to another pharmacy and asked the same question. They said that “I could try coming in on Monday”, and that they can sometimes override the MoH computer. It was a roundabout way of confirming that I am meant to wait ‘six months plus one day’. I further questioned the Ministry of Health’s reason for this extra day’s wait, but the pharmacist had no explanation. He did say, though, to come in on Monday 1 August, implying that he would be able to do the system override.

At first impression, this situation – the needlessly long six-month wait – is a case of ‘bureaucracy gone mad’, killing a significant number of New Zealanders. And, regardless of the answer to that question, why must I wait that extra day beyond the six months?

MoH: Please just answer – not necessarily to me personally, but preferably to this publisher – these three questions? [Reminder: I got my third ‘first booster shot ‘ on 1 February 2022.]

• What is the medical reason why I cannot get my Covid19 ‘second booster’ on Friday 29 July?
• Why was I told by a health professional that I will not be allowed to get my Covid19 ‘second booster’ on Monday 1 August?
• Given the large number of people who become eligible for another vaccination in August, when and how will you tell the vaccination-willing New Zealand public that the rule is that they must wait ‘six months plus one day’?

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Keith Rankin (keith at rankin dot nz), trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

About 2000 New Zealand district health board workers had not been vaccinated 15 hours before the deadline to lose their jobs.

From today no one can work in healthcare unless they have had at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine or are exempt from the government mandate.

Unite Union’s Gerard Hehir represents six Waikato Hospital orderlies who have decided to quit.

They had a last minute meeting with the district health board (DHB) yesterday, one of a series over the past few weeks.

“People have been given the opportunity to think about it, respond, have some time, offered more information,” he said.

Even though they could not work from today, they would have one more meeting this week, a chance to change their minds before their contracts were terminated, he said.

Other DHBs also met with workers yesterday, with most offering the chance for last minute vaccinations.

Numbers unclear
It was still unclear how many people have made the same choice as the Waikato orderlies.

A spokesperson representing all district health boards said at 9am yesterday they estimated there were about 2 percent or 3 percent of their 80,000 staff nationally who were unvaccinated — between 1600 and 2400 people.

But it would be a few days before they knew the final number, she said.

That estimate did not count the tens of thousands of contractors who worked at hospitals, doing jobs like carpentry, food preparation or patient transport.

Counties Manukau DHB managers have been told they are responsible for checking every contractor who is coming on site to do work for their team.

The mandate went beyond DHBs to people working in the community – GPs, physiotherapists, psychologists, midwives, chiropractors and more.

The College of GPs medical director Dr Bryan Betty said it was also trying to get a gauge on how many of the country’s 5000 GPs were not vaccinated.

He knew of about 20, but also of nurses and receptionists who would lose their jobs.

Awaiting DHB figures
Nurse and midwife organisations were also waiting on DHB figures to find out how their professions were impacted.

Nurses Organisation Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said there was a small number out of the roughly 50,000 nurses working around the country.

She knew personally of six who were still holding out but also of some who had been reluctant then realised their jobs were more important and got vaccinated.

College of Midwives chief executive Alison Eddy said she worried about losing any midwife from the workforce, because it was already so stretched.

Hehir said the union was supporting its workers but it did back the mandate.

When it surveyed its DHB workers, for every vaccine hesitant response, there were many more from those who said they would be uncomfortable working with unvaccinated people.

“It is a real serious issue with people losing their jobs but it is also a very serious issue for people concerned about their health and the health of their families,” he said.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz