Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Primary Healthcare Shut-out Makes No Sense

“The Government is shutting out a standing army of vaccinators like pharmacists and General Practitioners (GPs) in a flawed model that will ensure the continued slowness of our COVID vaccination rollout,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“This may be because it has tied its own hands by not commissioning a national booking system for COVID vaccinations until last October – a system that won’t be functioning until ‘sometime in May.’

“All the same, we have vaccination infrastructure in place to vaccinate around 1.4 million New Zealanders a year just for the flu, but instead of utilising it the Government has decided to stand up the vaccination programme from scratch, with each District Health Board (DHB) developing its own plan.

“Despite previously saying primary healthcare providers would be used in the vaccination rollout, and asking them for expressions of interest, I’m getting reports that few if any of those who have so far expressed an interest are being added to the vaccinator network.

“Pharmacists and GPs well-versed in running nationwide vaccination programmes are scratching their heads as to why they’re being left on the side-lines.

“This isn’t how they’re vaccinating in the United Kingdom, where they’re successfully combining National Health Service resources with primary healthcare providers like GPs and pharmacies.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“And it’s not how they’re vaccinating in Australia, where almost half the 1.2 million doses of vaccine administered to date have been delivered through the country’s GP network.

“It’s crazy that almost no primary health care providers are being used in our rollout despite having the staff and infrastructure ready to go.

“Meanwhile, concerns about how to run our rollout without wastage of the precious Pfizer vaccine should be alleviated with new advice that the vaccine is more stable at higher temperatures than previously thought.

“Rather than needing to be stored and transported at extremely low temperatures the vaccine can actually be shipped to vaccination clinics and stored there at temperatures commonly found in standard pharmaceutical freezers for up to two weeks.

“Unopened vials can even be stored in domestic fridges for up to five days.

“Logically this should open the door to greater use of the primary healthcare vaccinator network, significantly increasing the pace of the rollout here.”

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.