Well what a difference a month makes. Things are certainly heating up in New Zealand - and I'm not just talking about the weather. What's happened? Good question. Well it all started with a Vaxathon....
You could be forgiven for not knowing what a Vaxathon is. In fairness, it wasn't clear to me when it was first suggested. The nearest thing I can compare it to is that it's sort of like a Red Nose Day, but with needles.
With the arrival of the Delta strain in New Zealand it was only a matter of time before we had to change the game plan. We had done incredibly well keeping the virus at bay over the preceding 18 months but Delta was here and was going nowhere....except it was. It wriggled through the Auckland defences and was out and about. Quite why it would want to leave the Super City was a mystery but it was becoming increasingly harder to contain the outbreak.
So there was a shift in focus. Out went the successful but time limited elimination strategy, and in came the longer-term strategy. One that relied on a traffic light system and more on public vigilance rather than government interventions. Lock-downs would still be in the toolkit but only used as a last resort. Above all, individual freedom would be restored but that came with a risk attached. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For this new approach to work, New Zealand would have to get vaccinated. Jab up or job off.
Because of its limited buying power and success at keeping the virus out of the country, New Zealand was somewhat down the list of countries when the vaccines started to roll off the pharmaceutical conveyor belt. Actually I've got no idea how vaccines are made. Pretty sure rolling isn't involved but a conveyor belt might be. It's not really important. Anyway, New Zealand's vaccine roll-out had started but nowhere near quickly enough. So a plan was hatched to hold a national day of vaccinations or, if you prefer, a Vaxathon!!
Who exactly was the first to suggest the idea is open to debate, but the intention was that on Saturday 16 October, as many vaccines as possible would be administered across Aotearoa. Or to put it another way, everyone was asked to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated.
The comparison with Red Nose Day is not a bad one. Celebrities turned up in person, or video-linked to the studio, to offer support and encourage everyone to get down to their nearest vaccination centre. Prizes were given out, food cooked - who doesn't like a sausage sizzle - and the whole day had a general party atmosphere. It was a big endeavour and a political gamble. What would it mean if it was a failure? Was it game over? A target of 100,000 vaccinations had been sent. Was that too ambitious? The previous daily record was 80,000 so quite an increase. That was a lot.
We needn't have worried - the target was reached by lunchtime and went on to exceed 130,000. A huge success then. But we still needed to get more needles into more arms. Now what?
We needed a target, and a little bit of healthy rivalry that's what.
A few days later, it might be more but I've lost track of time a little bit these last few weeks, the government announced that we needed to get the whole country up to 90% of double vaccinated people and the we could start to open up. If Auckland got there first, then the restrictions in Auckland would be loosened. If there's one thing New Zealand loves more than a sausage sizzle, it's competition. Game on!
There wouldn't be a 'Freedom Day', that was far too risky and could have disastrous consequences for the health of the country, but instead a target. A government that follows science rather than a populist agenda?
So the focus has now shifted to graphs of vaccine rates across Aotearoa. Of the 20 District Health Board areas (DHBs) in New Zealand, the three that cover Auckland are tantalisingly close, but others are a little further off. But it can be done. At the current rate, Auckland should get there at the end of November and the rest of the country should get there before Christmas - just in time to enjoy the long kiwi summer. Wouldn't that be a great Christmas present!
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