The Director-General of Health doesn't know why the recently infected Grand Millenium worker hasn't been vaccinated.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced the new COVID-19 case on Thursday after the border worker returned a positive test the previous day. He also said the 24-year-old security guard hadn't been vaccinated.
Border workers and those they live with started receiving the vaccine in February. The rollout has since expanded to high-risk frontline healthcare workers, people living in high-risk places, and people living in the Counties Manukau DHB area who are at higher risk.
Even though the newly infected worker has "certainly" been offered the vaccine, Dr Bloomfield says he doesn't have any information on why they are unvaccinated.
"My understanding is that it's not the person has objected to being vaccinated, but it's just been the logistics of getting a vaccine," he says.
"I don't think he's falling through the cracks, but I would say that I don't have any further detail."
Dr Bloomfield says about 95 percent of border workers have been vaccinated, many of which have had two doses. He adds he doesn't know exactly how many border workers haven't been vaccinated.
"The agencies and employers of people working in managed isolation, and indeed at the border, are now going through to find out who hasn't been vaccinated and the reasons for that," he says.
"Those who for medical or for other reasons or who simply won't be vaccinated are the ones that there will need to be discussions with around redeployment, because our advice is people working at the border should be vaccinated to provide protection to both them and the wider community."
Data from the Ministry of Health shows that as of Tuesday, 90,286 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of this, 19,273 people have received their second dose.
