“Take your kids with you to get vaccinated,” says Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.
From today (September 1), everyone in New Zealand over 12 is eligible for vaccination against Covid-19.
“The latest community outbreak shows that people of every age including the young are affected, and the best protection against the disease and its spread is to be vaccinated,” the Mayor says.
“Stopping the spread of the virus through a swift and strong lockdown which will stay in place until we have suppressed community contagion is how we will get back to living safely and normally. But longer term, a high level of community vaccination is how we will beat the disease, prevent deaths and serious illness and eventually open our borders.”
More than 1.1 million doses of the vaccine have now been administered in Auckland and the city has one of the highest per capita rates of vaccination in the country.
“That’s a great result, but we need to see the rate of vaccination increase even further in Auckland. We are the gateway city for New Zealand and with more than twice as many Managed Isolation and Quarantine facilities as the rest of the country combined, we are most vulnerable to further incursions,” says Goff.
“Auckland remains exceptionally vulnerable to the Delta strain. I am continuing to stress to the government the importance of keeping up the pace of vaccinations here as a priority.
“With the city on the front line of New Zealand’s Covid-19 defence it makes sense that it be prioritised as quickly as possible to reduce the likelihood of further outbreaks and damaging lockdowns, which then spread to the rest of the country.
“Please also continue to follow the rules of Alert Level 4. It’s encouraging that case numbers have now declined for two consecutive days. This shows that the lockdown and public health measures are having the intended effect and slowing the spread of the virus.
“But it’s important that we stay the course so that we can once again stamp out COVID-19 and return to life as normal.”
