Just one in 20 of those most vulnerable to Covid-19 are fully vaccinated against the virus despite their roll-out beginning in May.
More than 86,000 people eligible in group 3 had been vaccinated as of midnight Monday, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in Parliament on Tuesday. That group includes those over 65 and those with underlying health conditions, and disabled people.
Officials earlier this year estimated there would be 1.7 million people in group 3, which meant roughly 5 per cent or one in 20 have had both doses. Census data suggests there are at least 800,000 over 65s in New Zealand, but the group also consists of pregnant people and people in prison.
The latest data also shows 434,412 adults across all groups have had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which means about one in 10 adults have been fully immunised against Covid-19.
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Just one in 20 of those most vulnerable to Covid-19 are fully vaccinated against the virus, latest figures show. (File photo)
Those with certain underlying health conditions and disabilities are more likely to get very sick if they catch Covid-19.
In group 2, consisting of high-risk frontline workers and people living in high-risk places, 278,669 people had both doses. The group was estimated to consist of 480,000 eligible adults, meaning more than 58 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
The Government originally intended to have this group vaccinated by June, but is currently running vaccine supply down to almost zero by this time next week before the next shipment arrives on Tuesday.
In group 4 the rest of the population – about 19,000 people had been fully vaccinated, or about one per cent.
The Ministry of Health has stressed that the group sizes are approximate and they no longer display them online.
Hipkins said any unvaccinated people in groups 1 and 2 had been offered the vaccine, and he was pleased with the roll-out so far.
But University of Otago’s senior lecturer Lesley Gray, from the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice, said the roll-out was slow considering new variants of the virus were emerging.
Vaccinations lessen hospitalisations. Its about minimising the severity, she said.
The Delta variant appears to have high transmission rates and appears to be more readily transmissible.
The National Party Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop said the roll-out was going at an unacceptably slow rate.
We are sitting ducks for an outbreak of the Delta variant, he said.