Dr Ashley Bloomfield responds to critical report on Covid-19 vaccine rollout - a podcast by RNZ

from 2021-05-18T17:16

:: ::


A report into the Covid-19 vaccine rollout raises serious concerns about whether the government can reach its targets and if there's even enough vaccine in the country.
It calls on health authorities to be honest and more transparent about the challenges and uncertainty ahead.
The weighty report by the Auditor General drills down into preparations for the nationwide Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
While it praises the health sector for its hard work and the government for contracting enough doses to vaccinate all of New Zealand and a number of Pacific countries, it highlights major shortcomings and substantial risks, including whether there are enough vaccinators and enough vaccine.
It notes there is no contingency plan for if New Zealand runs short, delivery is late or there is a Covid-19 outbreak during the rollout.
The plan to extend the rollout to the general public is also not yet fully developed. The report says the Ministry of Health needs to improve transparency with public, especially about uncertainty and challenges ahead And the Auditor General is not confident the rollout will pick up pace in time to meet the December target for vaccinations.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield discusses the details.

Further episodes of Checkpoint

Further podcasts by RNZ

Website of RNZ