New Zealand dispenses record number of jabs at ‘Vaxathon’

WELLINGTON Oct 16 (UNA): New Zealand’s health care workers ran a record number of vaccinations on Saturday as the nation held a festival aimed at vaccinating more people against the coronavirus, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Musicians, sports stars and celebrities participated in the “Faxathon” event, which was broadcast on television and on the Internet for eight hours straight. By late afternoon, more than 120,000 people had received shots, surpassing the daily record of 93,000 set in August. The event extended into the evening.

A return to the “telethon” TV fundraising events that were popular from the 1970s through the 1990s comes as New Zealand faces its biggest threat since the pandemic began, with a delta variant spreading across Auckland’s largest city and beyond.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, chatting with motorists at a vaccination center in Wellington, initially set a target of 100,000 strokes a day, but raised that to 150,000 after the first goal was achieved.

It also set a target of 25,000 rounds for indigenous Maori, whose vaccination numbers have lagged and who have been hit hard by the recent outbreak.

National carrier New Zealand Air has turned a Boeing 787 Dreamliner into a vaccination clinic for the day, and issued boarding passes for people on flight “Flight NZVAX”.

Singer Lorde smiled on the outside, saying she couldn’t wait to come home to live concert and make everyone sweat and dance.

“I’m the first person to admit that I find the injections really difficult, but since I was a kid I’ve treated myself to going to the bakery after the injections, usually a custard tart,” she said. “So you can do that.”

New Zealand has so far used only the Pfizer vaccine.

For most of the pandemic, New Zealanders have lived completely free of the virus after the government successfully stamped out every outbreak through strict lockdowns and contact tracing.

This zero-tolerance strategy failed for the first time after the outbreak of the most contagious delta variant that began in August. Until then, New Zealand had been slow to vaccinate its population. The lost land has since been compensated.

Prior to Vaxathon, about 72% of New Zealanders had received at least one dose and 54% had been fully vaccinated. Among those aged 12 and over, the proportion was about 83% and 62%, respectively.

AOQ