Under 35s left last in NZ vaccine rollout
Young New Zealanders must wait until October at the earliest to be vaccinated against COVID-19 under a new government rollout plan.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed long-awaited details of the vaccination plan for the general population.
Currently, only priority groups are being vaccinated, including health and border workers, and Kiwis who are at a higher risk of either getting the virus or having adverse health effects if they were to contract COVID-19.
Ms Ardern has pledged every consenting adult New Zealand will receive vaccine this year.
However, the rollout is occurring at a glacial pace.
New Zealand is ranked 120th, or last in the developed world, for people per capita to be vaccinated.
In recent weeks, the government has turned its mind on how to coordinate the rollout beyond the priority groups, deciding to give preference to older Kiwis.
"We've landed on age bands because it's a simple approach most commonly used overseas and because the risk of COVID increases as you get older," Ms Ardern said.
Ms Ardern said those over 60 would be eligible on July 28, and Kiwis who have had their 55th birthday could begin from August 11.
New Zealand's vaccination program is restrained by two key factors: the delivery of the vaccine and the country's under-resourced health system.
New Zealand is exclusively using Pfizer for the rollout, making delivery agreements with the pharmaceutical titan critical.
Because of uncertainty over future shipments, Ms Ardern said she was unable to offer exact times for other population groups.
Instead, she said over 45s would be vaccinated from mid-to-late August, over 35s in mid-to-late September, and under 35s from October.
"Our goal has to be prioritising those who are at high risk," she said.
The government will partner with businesses - including dairy giant Fonterra and logsitics company Mainfreight - to vaccinate Kiwis at work.
It will also use an online tool to handle vaccination bookings.
New Zealand has avoided community cases of COVID-19 for more than 100 days, and has suffered just 26 deaths through the pandemic.
There are 24 active cases in Aotearoa, all of whom arrived from overseas and were picked up in the country's compulsory 14-day quarantine-on-arrival system.
None of those cases require hospital-level care.
Also on Thursday, the NZ government lengthened its travel ban on Victorian travellers, but announced its intention to lift the ban next Wednesday - subject to low COVID-19 case numbers in Melbourne.
