New Zealand's largest primary health organisation responds to announcement of 'very tight' vaccine supply

New Zealand’s largest Primary Health Organisation (PHO), ProCare, will continue to support its 177+ member GP practices following yesterday’s government announcement regarding the country’s Covid vaccine supply being “very tight”. COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Wednesday that New Zealand will have less than a day’s worth of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine left in freezers before around 150,000 doses arrive next week.

ProCare CEO Bindi Norwell says the announcement only strengthens ProCare’s goal of including as many general practices as possible in the vaccination rollout. “To date, ProCare has onboarded 10 practices across Tamaki Makaurau who have been active in vaccinating their target communities, with another 14 practices in the approval pipeline and a further 70 keen to get involved. Hearing the news that supply timelines are under pressure only reinforces our mission: we will continue working hard to get practices in our network ready, so when new Pfizer supplies arrive they can very quickly ramp-up and get their patients protected against COVID-19.”

New Zealand’s vaccine rollout is happening through mass vaccination sites as well as general practice clinics, with Norwell saying it is crucial that people feel they have an option. ““We are hearing from our practices that whānau are keen to get their COVID-19 vaccine at their local family doctor - it’s a place they know and feel comfortable. Our network is proud to be able to be there for those patients. Not all clinics are vaccinating however – so we urge people to check first by typing their regular general practice name into Healthpoint – this website will make it clear if your GP is offering this service.”

ProCare serves over 795,000 patients, with the largest Pacific and South Asian populations enrolled in general practice in New Zealand and the largest Māori population in Tāmaki Makaurau.