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National | Māori

Record number of vaccinations administered in Waikato on Friday

Waikato had its biggest day ever for vaccinations on Friday and reached a milestone by delivering over 10,000 vaccinations in one day, the highest daily rate in the region so far.

Waikato DHB says it also saw the highest number of Māori vaccinated in a day. 1903 people received a jab, which takes the total of Māori in the Waikato with at least one vaccination now above 60,000.

Vaccinations were offered throughout Waikato with the new pop-up mobile vaccination clinics going out into rural areas such as Raglan, Tirau, and more remote areas like Ruapehu, National Park and Raurimu.

The numbers come in the wake of Delta cases rising in the Waikato region this week to 25, putting much of the western and northern parts of the region into Level 3.

DHB vaccine programme lead, Maree Munro, said the achievement was a great example of a collaborative effort of Kaupapa Māori and Pacific providers, GPs, Pharmacies, Urgent Care clinics, as well as the dedicated DHB teams tasked with the community rollout programmes.

“Together with all of our providers we have been able to reach into our diverse and rural communities to get people vaccinated closer to home.

“I also want to thank everyone in Waikato for coming forward and getting their first and second vaccinations so that we can all be safe.

“When we heard that COVID-19 had reached Raglan, the local community showed real community spirit and stepped up and volunteered to provide support by offering testing and vaccination locations along with volunteers for managing traffic at the Raglan Area School.

“It is clear that our rural communities can be impacted by this virus, just as our main centres can.  We encourage you to go and get vaccinated so we can continue to enjoy the lifestyles and locations we have chosen for our whānau.”