Canterbury DHB reached its 200,000 COVID-19 vaccination dose milestone this week.

The rollout in Canterbury is ramping up, having gone from 10,000 doses administered per week in mid-July, to more than 33,000 doses per week now, on its way to a peak of around 45,000 doses per week scheduled for late September.

Canterbury DHB now has 60 COVID-19 vaccination clinics across Canterbury and is on track to have around 100 clinics open by the end of September, says Senior Responsible Officer, Dr Helen Skinner.

“We’re proud to say that more than 80% of our over 65 population have now either booked their vaccination appointments, had their first dose or are fully vaccinated. In addition, one in four Cantabrians have now had their first dose.”

“Primary care providers such as GP practices and pharmacies and Maori and Pacific healthcare providers are a crucial component of the Canterbury DHB delivery plan for the COVID-19 vaccination programme. We’re relying on them to reach the volumes we need to make sure everyone has an opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the year. We are pleased to have 60 clinics already delivering vaccinations across Canterbury.”

Clinics include general practices, pharmacies, mobile clinics, and DHB-run ‘mass vaccination’ clinics.

“We are currently supporting 40 more primary care providers through the onboarding process to become COVID-19 vaccination clinics, so we can reach more Cantabrians.”

The onboarding process for primary care providers includes training for vaccinators and administrators, physical site and system set up to enable booking for appointments, ordering and delivery of vaccines, and reporting and quality control training. 

“Canterbury DHB’s vaccination team has also started planning vaccination events to reach Cantabrians in rural areas. We are also working with different organisations to provide tailored vaccination programmes for people with special needs.”

Dr Skinner says everyone who wants to be vaccinated will get vaccinated.

The Canterbury DHB is currently 101% ahead of target and expects to have capacity to deliver 33,000 doses this week.