GPs in Christchurch are concerned they are missing out on Covid-19 vaccines after Canterbury DHB gave leftover doses to non-essential workers over frontline health staff.
Canterbury GP Angus Chambers described feeling “pretty disappointed” after discovering the leftover vaccines were not being given to frontline health staff saying he feels “like many of our staff are right in the firing line for Covid-19” and should be given those doses.
Chambers said he and his Christchurch colleagues are still waiting for a jab after it was rolled out on February 19.
“The vaccine rollout is very unclear to me. There doesn’t seem to be a good plan,” he said.
Criticism has been lobbed at the Canterbury DHB after it administered leftover vaccines to non-essential workers.
The DHB admits three doses were made available on one occasion on Sunday, March 7, following missed appointments.
"At the end of the day, we had three vaccine doses left due to the fact three people didn’t attend their pre-booked vaccination appointment," the Canterbury DHB executive lead for Covid-19 response, Ralph La Salle, told 1 NEWS in a statement.
It said due to the location of the clinic and the fact that the vaccine could not be moved, the leftover doses were offered to a nearby business.
NZMA GP Council chair Vanessa Weenink called it “disappointing to see,” saying, “they’ve just kind of grabbed random people, is what it sounds like”.
The Canterbury DHB would not appear on camera today, but said today in a statement that it does have plans in place to prevent vaccine waste, including using a standby list of people who can be called in at short notice for a vaccination.
GPs have been left off the list, despite local clinics saying most of their staff could attend if they were contacted.
“Despite some GPs actually trying to get their teams on the list, that hasn’t happened,” Weenink said.
“The detailed level of planning that was required to contact us at short notice or contact someone at short notice just seems to have been lacking.”
The DHB believes it’s better to make use of leftover doses rather than waste them.
Chambers said while we “should have an emphasis on not wasting,” there should be “an even greater emphasis on the health and safety of our health workforce because that's more important than waste”.
Weenink added, “we've got the opportunity in New Zealand to do things well and in a calm and logical manner and rushing around and grabbing the nearest people when there are other priorities just doesn’t seem to be doing it well”.
The GP Council has been assured local workers will be added to the standby list by Monday.
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