Vaccination event targeting tradies hailed a success

October 31, 2021

The hardware store put on a vaccination event targeting tradies.

There were queues of people across the carpark at Placemakers, Riccarton in Christchurch on Sunday - as the hardware store put on a vaccination event targeting tradies.

By Katie Stevenson

Store owner Grant Close said he was “absolutely rapt” with the turnout.

“Builders are really busy they start early and they finish late and they work at night and so often they miss out on the opportunity to go out to a vaccination clinic and yet our industry can’t afford to be closed down because of a lockdown.”

Wayne Thompson from the Canterbury District Health board said they were really hoping to target 20 to 29-year-olds with the event. This group currently have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the region.

“You can just see today it’s been fantastic the turnout particularly with the age group too which is really amazing.

“People are taking the opportunity to come to this event for their second dose as well as their first," Thompson said, adding over 50 people came through in the first hour. 

One tradie said it had been a struggle to find the time to go out and get jabbed, so having the event on the weekend made it easy.

There were also lots of prizes on offer, including vouchers and tools.

One father told 1News his kids just came along for the free food that came with the jab.

The hardware store put on a vaccination event targeting tradies.

The cases announced in the city this week have seen vaccination numbers steadily grow over the past few days.

On Saturday across Canterbury, more than 9000 total vaccinations were delivered including 6600 second doses – around a fifth of the total vaccinations delivered across the country on Saturday.

More than 90 per cent of the region's eligible population have now had their first dose.

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