Important Update on Vaccination Clinics in Dunedin and Invercargill Today 2

————————— 01/04/2021 UPDATE 013 ——————————

In this issue: *Please note, new and updated content is noted in red.

1. Important update on vaccination clinics in Dunedin and Invercargill today 2. Vaccination clinics in Queenstown and Fiordland announced 3. Impact of COVID-19 vaccine on influenza and MMR immunisations 4. All Southern front-line health workers & providers invited to book vaccinations (updated) 5. Clinics scheduled for this and next week (includes Queenstown and Fiordland) 6. Poster for staff areas 7. Staff wanted to join Southern COVID-19 vaccination workforce 8. Queenstown, Central Otago and rural hospitals 9. Advice on COVID-19 vaccination and employment 10. Useful links

Important update on vaccination clinics in Dunedin and

Invercargill today

Our teams at the Dunedin and Invercargill clinics have been working hard to provide vaccine access to our frontline health workers. Please bear with us while we iron out teething problems in our administration systems.

Both clinics close for the Easter break at 4pm today. Due to an error in the booking system some people will have received confirmed appointments at both Invercargill and Dunedin clinics for appointments today (Thursday, 1 April) between 4pm and 6pm.

These people will have received a text or a phone call this morning to reschedule their appointment for an earlier time today and also given the choice to reschedule after Easter.

If you have a vaccination appointment booked for after 4pm today, please do not go to the clinic for your appointment. You will be provided with a rescheduled time.

The Invercargill clinic will also be closed on Tuesday the 6th of April for Southland anniversary day.

• The Dunedin clinic reopens on Tuesday the 6th of April at 11am. • The Invercargill clinic reopens on the Wednesday 7th of April at 11am.

Vaccination clinics in Queenstown and Fiordland announced

We are excited to announce that COVID vaccination clinics are scheduled to open in Queenstown and Fiordland for border workers and front-line health workers.

These mark the first clinics to open outside of the urban centres of Dunedin and Invercargill.

The clinics will commence in Queenstown on Saturday 10 April, and will be open to current border workers and those who would become part of the border workforce should a trans-Tasman bubble come into effect, their household contacts and our frontline health workers.

The Queenstown clinics will run on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 April from 9.30am to 4pm. Weekday clinics run from Monday 12 April to Thursday 15 April from 5.30pm to 8pm. The clinics will be centrally located in Queenstown.

The Fiordland clinic will be located in Te Anau, and run from Wednesday 14 April until Friday 16 April, with times to be confirmed. Please note it was previously stated that the Te Anau clinic would open on the 13th of April, this has now been updated.

Further clinics for frontline health workers in rural areas of the Southern district will be progressively opened from mid-April, and more information will be provided on these as it becomes available.

There are a number of logistical challenges involved in delivering the vaccine, and we sincerely appreciate the efforts of the health providers in these centres - in particular WellSouth Primary Health Network and the teams at Queenstown Medical Centre, Wakatipu Medical Centre and Fiordland Medical Practice - to get the vaccine to the border workforce, their household contacts and front-line health workers in these communities.

Bookings are essential for all clinics.

To schedule a vaccine appointment, frontline health workers are asked to complete this webform. Border workers and their household contacts will be contacted through border employers.

Impact of COVID-19 vaccine on influenza and MMR immunisations

The Ministry of Health has released the following pānui about managing immunisation programmes and priorities:

Now that we have more certainty of the COVID-19 vaccine programme and sequencing, as well as continued confidence in our COVID-19 elimination strategy, we have been able to make some key decisions on the National Measles Immunisation Campaign and the 2021 Influenza campaign.

Protecting our tamariki from infectious diseases remains a priority It’s vital that the childhood National Immunisation Programme remains a priority for all DHBs and primary care providers so we can continue to protect tamariki from the ongoing risk of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Please continue with childhood immunisations, including outreach immunisation services, school-based immunisation programmes and BCG vaccination services.

Protection is often life-long and, as we know, it is difficult to catch up children once the schedule window has passed.

Reduced focus on MMR campaigns in some areas Some DHBs will be reducing their focus on the National Measles Immunisation Campaign between now and October.

DHBs will be in touch with providers if anything is changing in their region.

During this time, we ask that providers continue to offer opportunistic MMR to people aged 15-30 years when they interact with the health system.

From October, all DHBs will have renewed focus on closing the immunity gap in their 15-30-year olds. The pipeline of additional vaccinators to administer COVID-19 roll-out will mean we have increased capacity in our workforce to deliver MMR vaccinations. This workforce will also be able to apply the experience gained delivering a mass vaccination roll-out to your reinvigorated MMR campaigns.

2021 Influenza immunisation programme continues but with changes The influenza programme will continue but the focus will be on those eligible for funded vaccinations.

There remains a public health risk of influenza even with the current border settings and it is important we continue the programme to ensure background immunity is maintained and our most vulnerable are protected.

The start date of 14 April for those aged 65 and over remains the same. But, due to a manufacturing issue, the influenza vaccines for people aged under 65 will now be available early May. We will let you know the availability date as soon as possible.

There is a need to align the COVID-19 roll-out programme with influenza. Outside the Counties Manukau DHB area, please immunise as many people aged 65 and over from 14 April so they can access the COVID-19 vaccine when it is available to them. Within Counties Manukau DHB area, ensure that people aged 65 and over have both doses of COVID-19 before administering the influenza vaccine.

In May and June, both the COVID-19 and influenza immunisations will be available to a wider group of people within the same time frame. To overcome this complexity, we advise using a three-dose schedule, as previously discussed.

If a person is scheduled to have the COVID-19 immunisation within the next two weeks, they should have the influenza immunisation two weeks after their last COVID-19 immunisation dose.

Where a person is not scheduled to have the COVID-19 immunisation in the next two weeks, they should have the influenza immunisation, followed by their COVID-19 immunisation at least two weeks after the influenza vaccine.

For people in Group 2 of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out and for people in Group 3 that have a COVID-19 vaccination booked for less than two weeks’ time – follow schedule A Schedule A Day 0 Day 21 Day 35 (or later) COVID-19 dose one COVID-19 dose two Influenza For people in Group 3 that do not have a COVID-19 vaccination booked, or have one booked for more than two weeks in the future, and for people in Group 4 - follow schedule B

Schedule B Day 35 (or 21 days after Day 0 Day 14 (or later) COVID-19 dose one) Influenza COVID-19 dose one COVID-19 dose two

Please note that whilst a two-week gap between influenza and COVID vaccines is recommended there are no clinical safety concerns should the gap between vaccines be less than two weeks.

All front-line health workers and providers in Southern invited to book their COVID-19 vaccinations

All front-line health workers in Southern are invited to complete a webform so they can be booked in for their vaccinations over coming weeks. If you have completed the webform you do not need to complete another.

It doesn't matter which health care organisation you work for in Southern, we invite you to fill out the webform.

We ask employers, managers and team leaders to ensure this message reaches all front-line staff, to enable them to complete the form.

In the first instance, the priority will be health care workers at the front line, in delivery settings where possible cases may seek health care, and where there is no ability to screen for COVID-19 before the interaction occurs.

We are also inviting front-line healthcare workers interacting with patients/clients where screening for COVID-19 has occurred prior to the interaction to fill out this information.

Other non-frontline staff will be vaccinated with the rest of the population.

Clinics are running in Dunedin and Invercargill, and will be held in Queenstown and Te Anau from next week. We will also be holding clinics elsewhere in the district and are working on a programme for this. If you are a healthcare worker from anywhere in the district, but will be near one of the scheduled clinics, you are welcome to book into one of these.

We are working to refine and improve our processes to further streamline our booking system for COVID-19 vaccinations as we move toward an electronic process. We are targeting mid-April for the rollout of an electronic booking system.

Confirmation: If you have not received confirmation of your booking time, it means the time you selected has been filled and you will be offered another day/time. Confirmation of appointment times will be sent to you via text or email. Please note that indicating a preferred timeslot is not confirmation, nor can we guarantee we can meet your preference. If you do not receive a text message, your appointment is not confirmed. Currently confirmation texts are generated 12 to 24 hours prior to the scheduled appointment time.

Staff are asked to please check with their managers before accepting an appointment time during work hours, to ensure critical areas can be covered.

Rescheduling: If you are unable to attend your allocated time you will need to phone 0800 829 768 to reschedule. Please note this 0800 number is experiencing high call volumes.

We appreciate your understanding as we work to book in our front-line Southern health workers for these important vaccinations.

Clinics scheduled this and next week - now includes

Queenstown and Fiordland

You must be booked in to attend a clinic. Please do so by filling in the webform here. Clinic times and locations may be amended as planning continues. As mentioned above, clinics in other areas in the district will be progressively opened from mid April.

When your appointment is confirmed, you will receive a text message; if you do not receive a text message, your appointment is not confirmed. Currently confirmation texts are generated 12 to 24 hours prior to the scheduled appointment time.

Please note - it can take some time for clinic times to be reflected on the web form. If your preferred clinic time is not yet selectable on the web form, please check again later.

Dunedin

Date Time Location • Lower ground floor Meridian Mall, 267 Thursday, 1 April 9am-4pm George Street, Dunedin

Friday, 2 April No clinics (Good Friday) Monday, 5 April No clinics (Easter Monday)

• Lower ground floor 11am – 6pm Meridian Mall, 267

Tuesday, 6 April George Street,

Dunedin

• Lower ground floor Meridian Mall, 267 Wednesday. 7 April 11am-6pm George Street, Dunedin

• Lower ground floor Meridian Mall, 267 Thursday, 8 April 11am-6pm George Street, Dunedin

• Lower ground floor Meridian Mall, 267 Friday, 9 April 11am-6pm George Street, Dunedin

Invercargill

Date Time Location • Murihiku Marae, 408 Tramway Road Thursday, 1 April 9am-4pm Invercargill

Friday, 2 April No clinics (Good Friday)

Monday, 5 April No clinics (Easter Monday)

Tuesday, 6 April Invercargill, no clinics (Southland Anniversary Day)

• WellSouth Offices, 40 Clyde Street, Wednesday. 7 April 11am-6pm Invercargill

• WellSouth Offices, 40 Clyde Street, Thursday, 8 April 11am-6pm Invercargill

• WellSouth Offices, 40 Clyde Street, Friday, 9 April 11am-6pm Invercargill

Queenstown Please note the Wakatipu Medical Centre clinic is located in Lower Shotover. There is no clinic at their Frankton location. Weekday clinic start times have been updated since yesterday to 5.30pm-8pm.

Date Time Location • Wakatipu Medical Centre, Lower Shotover, 4 Thirteenth Avenue, Queenstown Saturday, 10 April 9.30am-4pm • Queenstown Medical Centre, 9 Isle Street, Queenstown

• Wakatipu Medical Centre, Lower Shotover, 4 Sunday, 11 April 9.30am-4pm Thirteenth Avenue, Queenstown • Queenstown Medical Centre, 9 Isle Street, Queenstown

• Wakatipu Medical Centre, Lower Shotover, 4 Thirteenth Avenue, Queenstown Monday, 12 April 5.30pm-8pm • Queenstown Medical Centre, 9 Isle Street, Queenstown

• Wakatipu Medical Centre, Lower Shotover, 4 Thirteenth Avenue, Queenstown Tuesday, 13 April 5.30pm-8pm • Queenstown Medical Centre, 9 Isle Street, Queenstown

• Wakatipu Medical Centre, Lower Shotover, 4 Thirteenth Avenue, Queenstown Wednesday, 14 April 5.30pm-8pm • Queenstown Medical Centre, 9 Isle Street, Queenstown

• Wakatipu Medical Centre, Lower Shotover, 4 Thirteenth Avenue, Queenstown Thursday, 15 April 5.30pm-8pm • Queenstown Medical Centre, 9 Isle Street, Queenstown

Friday, 16 April No clinics

Fiordland These clinic times are likely to be available on the webform from next Wednesday 7 April.

Date Time Location

• Fiordland Medical Practice, 25 Wednesday, 14 April 8am-12noon Luxmore Drive, Te Anau

• Fiordland Medical Practice, 25 Thursday, 15 April 3pm-7pm Luxmore Drive, Te Anau

• Fiordland Medical Practice, 25 Friday, 16 April 8am-12noon Luxmore Drive, Te Anau

Poster for staff areas

We have been asking you to ensure your front-line staff in health care settings are aware of the webform to fill in, to register for their COVID-19 vaccination.

We are aware that many health care staff are not in front of emails all the time. So we have created this poster for staff areas.

This means staff can access the form by scanning the QR code. (Staff will need to download a QR scanner if they don't already have one).

We ask you please place the poster in staff area, not public facing areas at your work place, to avoid members of the public attempting to register at this stage.

Staff still wanted to join Southern COVID-19 vaccination workforce

Southern DHB continues to call out district-wide for vaccinators and staff in non- clinical roles to join the COVID-19 vaccination workforce.

We have appreciated the response so far, and thank everyone who has shared this call with friends and colleagues.

However, we will need even more staff as the programme expands, and thank you for continuing to help us find people to fill these important roles.

Key information - please share with your contacts.

It is anticipated that this programme of work will run over the next 9-12 months, depending on sequencing from the Ministry of Health.

Vaccinators will undergo specific COVID-19 training and will be health professionals or Health Science students.

If you are interested in supporting this work, please follow the link to https://www.southernhealth.nz/COVIDworkforce for more information and to express your interest.

Training will be provided on the required systems and processes as well as how the clinic will function, privacy matters and relevant policies.

Currently the clinics are DHB-led. As we extend the roll-out across the district we will be working with colleagues particularly in general practice and rural hospitals, however we are centralising this call for our immediate workforce needs through our DHB system at this stage.

Requirements:

• Preference is for individuals to be fully committed to these roles for 6+ months. • Southern DHB are willing to engage discussions with current employers around secondment arrangements, where possible. • Clinics will be run 7 days a week with two shifts during daytime hours (7am – 7pm) • Be prepared to travel within the region • We need team members who have a reasonable level of fitness • This service is pro-vaccination service • All contracted staff will be required to comply with Southern DHB's Code of Conduct and Ethics and Values and other relevant policies.

Please visit https://www.southernhealth.nz/COVIDworkforce page for updates.

Advice from Employment New Zealand on COVID-19 vaccination and employment

We are aware that a number of people in the health workforce have questions around whether or not the COVID-19 vaccination will be compulsory and what it will mean for their individual situation.

The Government, via Employment New Zealand, has provided guidance around COVID-19 vaccination issues in the workplace.

You can read the COVID-19 Vaccines: Employment Guidance here.

Useful links

For the latest public information about New Zealand's COVID-19 vaccination programme please visit:

Unite against COVID-19. Find out about the vaccine rollout programme here.

Ministry of Health COVID-19. Find information about vaccines here.