The government is expecting about 1.5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to arrive next month as the vaccination rollout scales up.<\/p>\n
New Zealand received 1 million doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in July. (File image) Photo: Supplied<\/p>\n
Bookings to get a vaccine will become available to those in group 4 aged between 60 and 65 from 28 July, but RNZ analysis of vaccination data showed more than 2 million doses still needed to be given to those in group 3.<\/p>\n
Group 3 related to anyone who was over 65 or living with a disability or underlying health conditions - in essence the most at-risk of serious symptoms or death as a result of Covid-19 infection.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defended the speed at which the rollout was going, saying the proportion of those in group 3 vaccinated varied between district health boards, and that the group vaccinations could be done concurrently.<\/p>\n
\"[Group 3] have had a period where they have been able to exclusively book, we now want to start booking in those for the next tranche,\" Ardern told Morning Report.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo: RNZ \/ Samuel Rillstone<\/p>\n
\"We'll be broadening the number of [vaccination] sites we have,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"But no-one is going to miss out.\"<\/p>\n
She said this was not about saving face because the government had already committed to this date.<\/p>\n
\"We've had a 41 percent increase in vaccines over the last week, relative to the week prior, so we are seeing considerable growth.<\/p>\n
\"This is always the point at which we said our programme would be ramping up.<\/p>\n
\"We had a million doses delivered in July, the next month [it will be] 1.5 million. We need to continue to book people through the system so we can keep scaling up our programme which is why we continue to roll through those groups.\"<\/p>\n
The latter part of July is when the balance tips, she said, with supply now being less of an issue that it has been.<\/p>\n
\"Prior to the weekend, we saw from memory about four consecutive days with vaccination numbers over 30,000.<\/p>\n
\"What we'll start doing next month is start releasing data daily so people can see and track the growth of the vaccine programme.\"<\/p>\n
Last week, a dedicated 0800 number opened up for people in group 3 who qualify for a Covid-19 vaccination but still had not received an invitation.<\/p>\n
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Covid-19 vaccine: 1.5 million doses due to arrive in August - RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government is expecting about 1.5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to arrive next month as the vaccination rollout scales up. New Zealand received 1 million doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in July. (File image) Photo: Supplied Bookings to get a vaccine will become available to those in group 4 aged between 60 and 65 from 28 July, but RNZ analysis of vaccination data showed more than 2 million doses still needed to be given to those in group 3. Continue reading