The head of Southern DHB's vaccine rollout says it is difficult to track the number of people in each vaccine group in Otago and Southland.
Photo: AFP / Tek Image/Science Photo Library
The DHB has previously referred questions about how many people were in each priority group to the Ministry of Health.
When asked how many people were in each group, Southern DHB vaccine rollout co-leader Karl Metzler only gave an estimate that there were 100,000 people in group 3 in Otago and Southland.
"Yeah that's like how long is a piece of string," he said.
"Off the top of my head I don't have that data because we're still really working our way through group 3 and because of supply constraints and the new booking system, it's really difficult at this stage to track those numbers exactly."
Group 2 - frontline workers and those living in high-risk places - were not far off being finished, he said.
He wanted the DHB to ramp up its efforts to vaccinate group 3 which includes people who are aged 65 and older, have a relevant underlying health condition, are pregnant or disabled.
"Group 3 we really need to prioritise them towards early to mid-August because obviously, comms are going to come out nationally around group 4, and we don't want them overlapping each other. We've got to get Group 3 done so there's a real priority," Metzler said.
"There will be some overlap with groups 3 and 4, particularly in our rural areas. You just can't avoid it but that's not an issue.
"Our main thing is everyone gets the vaccine by the end of December."
