Friday 5: 13 August 2021

Kia ora koutou,

Join us in celebrating the week that was, in this week’s Friday 5:

1. The first Pacific COVID-19 vaccinator (working under supervision) training was completed on Tuesday at the MIT Otara site. There were 10 Staff from Southseas Healthcare and Pasefika Family Health Group who completed this face-to-face session supported by NRHCC, The Immunisation Advisory Centre and Moana Research. During the training, Dr Chris Puli-uvea and Dr Natalie Netzler (photographed) gave a very informative presentation to the group to support their learning around the Covid vaccination.

Well done to everyone who coordinated this first training session!

2. Last Friday Birkenhead reached a milestone and hit their 1000 vaccinations administered mark for the day! Michelle Kooiman, the site lead, said the amazing team work and positive vibe contributed to the high number, as well as the new front of house layout change which assisted the flow of people. They had 11 booths open constantly and 9 registration people as well as an extra flow coordinator that helped to cover breaks. The team celebrated with cake and an afternoon huddle and the smiles said it all!

3. A big shout out and acknowledgment to the 92 vaccination centre staff who completed this week their swabbing and testing training as part of the surge response and contingency planning currently underway in the event of an outbreak.

4. We have a proud Gold medal Mum in the team! Below is a photo of one of our Albany vaccinators, Paula Brake, whose son Michael was in the NZ rowing men’s 8’s that won a gold medal at the Olympics last week! Well done to proud Mum Paula and son Michael!

5. To top off our top 5 for the week, here are some overall programme achieved targets to be proud of! Across the Northern Region we have reached 101% of our MoH target. 361,697 people in the Northern Region are fully vaccinated and today we are sitting on 950,808 total vaccinations administered. General Practice continues to grow steadily, with 164,361 vaccines doses administered across the Northern Region. Well done to the continuous mahi the NRHCC team are putting in to achieve these results!

A massive shout out to a very talented artist in our wider team, below are some artistic drawings which Eric Ngan, part of the Mass Vax team, drew on the day of the event. What a beautiful way to capture such a pivotal event in the programme. Bravo Eric!

And finally some wonderful feedback from some clients who have been recently vaccinated at Henderson and Tamaki Vaccination Centres:

Henderson:

“Just wanted to share how impressed I was with the incredible people and amazing service at the vaccine centre. It was so we'll organised and everyone was absolutely lovely. Thanks to everyone involved.”

Tamaki:

“George and I just wanted to say a big thank you for making the whole process so easy for us. Continue the wonderful work – you are doing an awesome job. All the best, George and Alexa”

Have a good weekend everyone.

Ngā mihi,

The Vaxx Programme