Hipkins 'worried' about Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in some communities ahead of rollout

February 14, 2021

The Covid-19 Response Minister says workplace vaccination pop-ups could be on the cards.

Vaccine hesitancy in some people within minority communities is one of the biggest concerns Chris Hipkins has when it comes to the rollout of the Covid-19 jabs.

The Covid-19 Response Minister said some groups within the country's population may be more unwilling than others to get vaccinated for the virus.

He said this included some people in Māori and Pasifika communities.

"Frankly, I'm more worried about them not coming forward to receive vaccinations when there's some available," he told Q+A host Jack Tame. 

While there are no plans to single out ethnic groups to receive their dose first, Hipkins said the Government is working alongside leaders in these groups to promote the Covid-19 vaccine.

The decision to prioritise them, like those aged over 65, is purely a supply chain issue, Hipkins said. This was because he said he couldn't pinpoint when the country would receive each of its orders. 

"As the number of vaccines arrive in the country, we will work our way through a prioritisation list. 

"That speed of vaccine arrival will mean we move faster or slower depending on exactly what shipments we get." 

PM Jacinda Ardern delivered the good news this morning, after weeks of criticism from her political rivals.

For next week's Pfizer rollout, medical practices will receive a daily dose of the jab to prevent a bottleneck from forming when each dose has a limited expiry, Hipkins said. For Pfizer, it's five days of viability after it's removed from extremely low temperatures. 

Health officials are developing a national vaccine database that can say if someone has had a jab, when they had it and how many further doses may be required. 

People will be able to log in and get their own vaccine information to make sure they stay up to date if they need more than one dose, as with Pfizer's vaccine. 

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