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Mahurangi got a much-needed shot in the arm during Super Saturday when hundreds turned out for Covid-19 injections in an area where vaccination rates lag behind those in central Auckland.
Ministry of Health data shows full vaccination rates in much of Mahurangi, such as the Okahukura Peninsula, Wellsford and Cape Rodney areas, are in the 40 to 60 per cent range. They are slightly better in areas such as Warkworth, Snells Beach, Sandspit and Matakana where between 60 to 65 per cent of people are fully vaccinated.
But even the best vaccinated areas in Mahurangi trail behind much of Auckland city where fully vaccinated rates are typically in the 70-80 per cent range.
A map prepared by Auckland Council’s Research and Evaluation Unit immediately prior to Super Saturday showed areas around the Kaipara Harbour – Tapora, Wharehine, Glorit and Mangakura – had the highest rates of non-vaccination in the Auckland region, with between 25 and 29 per cent of the population yet to receive their first vaccination.
Dr Tim Malloy, director of Coast to Coast Health Care, which runs a vaccination centre in Wellsford, says one reason for lower vaccination rates in the north Auckland region is the delay in setting up vaccination facilities here.
He says Coast to Coast had wanted to set up a vaccination centre in Wellsford much earlier than they did, but were blocked by authorities.
He says matters were not helped when border checkpoints were established and people were initially wrongly told they could not cross the Northland border to get a vaccination in Wellsford.
“We lost hundreds of vaccination bookings and that occurred over several days,” he says.
But the rural and remote nature of much of Mahurangi has also contributed to low vaccination rates
“If you are a dairy farmer and milking twice a day, seven days a week, when exactly are you meant to go and have your vaccine?” Dr Malloy says.
Super Shot Saturday, a national campaign to encourage vaccination held on October 16, went someway to alleviating concerns, with local clinics and pharmacies reporting good turn outs for vaccinations, though some practice managers worried that good weather prompted many to go to the beach instead.
Those who did turn out were encouraged by Warkworth Lions, who put on a sausage sizzle for anyone getting vaccinated at the Warkworth Medical Centre, and by One Mahurangi, who handed out spot prizes donated by local businesses (see column p15).
Coast to Coast administrator Sonya Fletcher says there was an especially favourable response to vaccinations at its clinics in Paparoa and Mangawhai. Paparoa residents will benefit from Coast to Coast’s new mobile vaccination unit, which will return to the area in three weeks to perform second dose vaccinations. Meanwhile, 119 vaccinations were performed in Mangawhai – 51 of them were for a first dose.
Other vaccination figures for Super Shot Saturday reported to Mahurangi Matters were:
Warkworth Medical Centre (115), Franklins Pharmacy, Warkworth, (more than 100), Mangawhai Pharmacy (82), Coast to Coast Wellsford (83), and Coast to Coast Paparoa (116).
Mahurangi-based MP Marja Lubeck says prior to Super Shot Saturday, she and a small group of mainly elderly volunteers placed around 1400 calls into areas with low vaccination rates, encouraging people to get vaccinated.
She says more than 90 per cent of those picking up the phone said they either had been or were willing to get vaccinated and most of those who were hesitant were willing to listen to arguments in favour of doing so.
Ms Lubeck says the hardest to persuade were those in very remote areas who found their isolation too difficult a problem to surmount.
Ms Lubeck successfully lobbied the Ministry of Health to provide a free taxi service for those getting their first vaccination. Those wishing to take advantage of the service can request a taxi when booking their vaccination on
0800 28 29 26.
Mahurangi Matters approached the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre for comment about vaccination rates in Mahurangi, but had not received a reply before going to press.
