Covid-19: Pockets of rural North Canterbury still lagging in vaccination rates

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

The vaccine roll-out is continuing to lag in pockets of rural North Canterbury.

Ministry of Health data shows Ashley Gorge in the Waimakariri district now has the Canterbury District Health Board’s (CDHB) slowest uptake with 79.3 per cent of eligible residents having received their first dose.

Seven out of 10 of the lowest first-dose vaccinated areas in the CDHB were in North Canterbury, including Pegasus Bay on 80.85 per cent of the eligible population, and Ashley Forest on 81.77 per cent.

Waitaha Primary Health chief executive Bill Eschenbach said there were “pockets of concern” in the Waimakariri district, but they were doing everything they could to reach them.

The Canterbury based primary health organisation uses a multi-faceted whānau ora approach to support people in rural communities, from Cheviot to south Ashburton, who find it harder to access healthcare.

Eschenbach said there were several reasons why some areas were behind, including farmers being too busy to get jabbed, but they were working to deliver vaccines in areas of concern.

“We are on the hard yards now, and we’ve got to think of every opportunity we have to vaccinate.”

This week the CDHB owned JabberWaka mobile vaccination motorhome would hit North Canterbury hot spots, Eschenbach confirmed, in an effort to take vaccinations to the community.

North Canterbury Federated Farmers president Caroline Amyes said distance to vaccination clinics had been an issue at a busy time of year with some farmers having to travel a two-hour round trip in order to get the jab.

“There’s been some complacency... It can be easy to say ‘we’ll do it next week’.”

Waimakariri district mayor Dan Gordon said the council had been encouraging vaccination through social and print media. “And I’ve been very public about getting my two doses.”

Gordon encouraged everyone who can to get vaccinated, saying he fully supported the vaccination.

Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey said it was “great” to see Canterbury catching up on vaccination rates after a slow start, but he wanted the CDHB to put measures in place to keep the momentum going.

He also wanted the CDHB to work with local education providers to get vaccinated by the end of the school year.

“Not everyone will have the time or resources to get to a vaccination clinic so allowing people to book a mobile vaccination over the phone or online could help rates to rise.”

Elsewhere in Canterbury, 10 suburbs with more than 500 people, now have 90 per cent of their eligible population fully vaccinated.

PHOTO: Waimakariri district mayor Dan Gordon getting his vaccination at the JabberWaka in Kaiapoi. The mobile home will be back out in North Canterbury to help increase vaccine rates.