Rural Southland seniors and other vulnerable people will start receiving their Covid-19 vaccinations next week.
The Southern District Health Board announced on Thursday that vaccination centres in rural areas would begin vaccinating Group Three of the Ministry of Healths sequencing framework from May 17.
The group includes those aged 65 or over, people with a relevant underlying health condition, disabled people, pregnant people and adults in custodial settings.
Following this, Invercargill and Dunedin residents who fit the bill will get their jab from mid-June.
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Southern DHB Covid-19 vaccine rollout incident controller Hamish Brown said the board had been able to vaccinate frontline staff and aged-care residents quickly in smaller rural populations.
It was therefore more efficient to expand eligibility in these areas, he said.
The general population are expected to get their vaccine from July.
The board will also be piloting a new online booking system from Monday that will allow people to select a time and date that works for them and change appointments themselves.
Andy Jackson/Fairfax NZ/Stuff
Rural Southlanders who are older than 65 or have underlying health conditions will start receiving their Covid-19 vaccines next week.
The previous booking system was sending confirmation texts 12 to 48 hours ahead of an appointment, which meant people were missing them.
The new system will ask people to book appointments for both doses at the same time, so they are spaced a minimum of 21 days apart.
Those who are eligible for Group Three appointments will be sent a link for bookings, but vaccination providers and a call centre will be able to help those unable to access the online system.
More than 25,000 people have now been vaccinated in Southland and Otago so far.
As we work our way through the priority groups and scale up our delivery, it is important to have the right tools to manage those numbers and this booking system is an important part of that, Brown said.
However, the system will be replaced when the Southern DHB joins the national booking system being developed by the Ministry of Health.
