With almost 90 percent of Aucklanders now fully vaccinated, the vaccination programme for Tāmaki Makurau is transitioning to a more extensive community-based outreach approach to continue to make it easier for people to get their vaccinations.

This will include more than 100 pop-up events leading up to Christmas in locations across the region ranging from schools through to stadiums and community centres.

This week, events will be taking place at schools in Manurewa and Māngere, Trusts stadium in west Auckland as well as in Pakiri and the Port Albert boat ramp in the north.

As well as the greater emphasis on outreach events, dozens more primary care providers are preparing to be part of the vaccination programme joining the 200 + General Practices and over 120 community pharmacies which are already administering COVID-19 vaccinations in all corners of the city.

Primary care providers have already delivered over 1 million doses across Auckland while increased focus on community outreach has seen these teams vaccinate over 23,000 people the last three weeks. This includes:

· Over 900 in-home vaccinations

· Over 2,000 vaccinations across disability providers

· Over 500 vaccinations of students, staff and families at specialist schools

· Over 2,000 vaccinations at emergency and transitional housing

· 15,000 vaccinations by the community vaccination buses and;

· 2,500 vaccinations via the community campervan teams.

“With over 300 primary care sites now providing vaccinations, we also have lots of capacity to deliver booster shots from later this month, while still being able to free up our staff to do more local events and outreach work, like in-home vaccinations and visits to boarding houses,” said NRHCC Vaccination Programme Director Matt Hannant.

“People have been responding really well to local events led by local community and school leaders, as well as the street-by-street approach for our campervans and buses.

“We know people have busy lives, particularly now they are returning to work and school, so it’s even more important that we can take vaccinations out to them to make it quick and easy.”

The shift in focus to outreach and events will mean that four of the city’s community vaccination centres will close with staff being redeployed to support the outreach efforts of both DHB and

Māori and Pacific partner providers.

The community vaccination centres led by Māori and Pacific partner providers will remain open recognising the crucial role these sites play in their communities, including Pukekohe, Manurewa, Takanini, Papakura, Ōtara, Westgate and Henderson.

The success of the drive-through vaccination model will also mean that the main drive-through site at Auckland airport park and ride will remain open until at least March 2022. The Mt Wellington, Birkenhead and Orewa will also remain open.

The four sites scheduled to close are: Albany (29 November), Epsom, Highbrook and the CBD (19 December).

“We’ve made phenomenal progress to date but the task of keeping all Aucklanders protected from COVID-19 is certainly not over yet. We encourage everyone who hasn’t yet had a vaccination, or is due a second dose, to head down to a local event or your local GP or pharmacy and get vaccinated ready for summer. This will enable you to enjoy everything the Auckland region has to offer as soon as we move to the new traffic light system, from haircuts and cafes through to gyms and music events.”

Full details of upcoming events and where people can still be vaccinated across metro Auckland are available at www.vaccinateforauckland.nz.

Ongoing support will also continue to be provided to those who have difficulties accessing vaccination sites due to transportation or mobility issues, including a free taxi service to all sites or access to in-home vaccinations (both available by calling the helpline on 0800 28 29 26).

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