Monthly Archives: March 2020

Influenza Vaccination Clinic Update

This entry was posted in Health promotion on by

Today we completed another successful Influenza vaccination clinic. We ran out of patients just before we ran out of vaccines so no-one that arrived missed out but we have no further vaccines left. We have had a batch on backorder since last week and will publicise a clinic via the website and Facebook as soon as they are available. The suppliers have indicated this may not be for a week or two.

Over the past week we have administered approximately 500 vaccines which is some kind of record. This has been the result of an outstanding effort by all our staff. Receptionists recording names and nurses and doctors calling patients back. Jackie and Sarah Morris have been in the front line administering vaccines at the vaccine clinics while all nurses have been involved vaccinating opportunistically. Huge credit also goes to our amazing patients who have responded at short notice to website and Facebook notifications, queued safely and in good humour and been generous in their appreciation of the service.

Because there has been such a big push on vaccination we have been asked if the influenza vaccine can prevent COVID-19. The answer to that is no it cannot prevent COVID-19 but it can prevent influenza which causes a very similar but slightly less severe illness. The reason for the push on vaccines is that by preventing influenza as well as we can we will limit those severe cases of influenza that require hospital resources and so free up those resources for COVID-19 patients if needed.

A big advantage of the lockdown and social distancing is that we are interrupting the spread of the normal winter colds and ‘flu as well as COVID-19. If we do this right we still have the chance to nip COVID-19 in the bud and potentially have a record low incidence of influenza as well. Stay home, keep to your bubbles and keep your distance and we can do this.

Influenza Vaccine Clinic Tuesday 31 March 2:30pm

This entry was posted in Health promotion on by

We will again be running an influenza vaccination clinic on Tuesday 31 March at 2:30pm. This will again be at the PathLab side of the Medical Centre and will again run until we run out of vaccines or patients. We have a moderate supply of vaccines but have been warned that our next batch may not arrive for a week or two. At this stage we are still only able to offer vaccination to those eligible for funded vaccines.

Please remember to space at least 2m apart, bring a sunhat/sunscreen/umbrella and wear sleeves that can be easily lifted to expose the upper arm so that we can administer the immunisation without delay.

Influenza Vaccine Clinic Monday 30 March 2pm

This entry was posted in Health promotion and tagged influenza vaccination influenza vaccine vaccination on by

We will again be running an influenza vaccination clinic on Monday 30 March at 2pm. This will again be at the PathLab side of the Medical Centre and will again run until we run out of vaccines or patients. We still have a reasonable supply of vaccines but have been warned that our next batch may not arrive for a week or two. At this stage we are still only able to offer vaccination to those eligible for funded vaccines.

Please remember to space at least 2m apart, bring a sunhat/sunscreen/umbrella and wear sleeves that can be easily lifted to expose the upper arm so that we can administer the immunisation without delay.

COVID-19 Update 27 March 2020 – Reflecting on this past week

This entry was posted in News on by
An empty waiting room on a Monday morning. Phones ringing off the hook.

If , last Friday, anyone had the described the week we have just had no-one would have believed it. Late Saturday afternoon we heard that the way General Practice had to operate would drastically change from Monday morning. Fortunately the Government sensed the same urgency and promptly escalated the alert level to 3 and then 4.

Patients socially distanced and being triaged from a safe distance by Jackie Morris

We had Sunday to prepare and communicate the changes and with the incredible cooperation and understanding of the people of Kawerau coped with this drastic change. Unable to use our waiting room all patients that called had to be called back by a clinical staff member and triaged as to whether a face to face visit was required or whether the issue could be managed with a virtual consult. Over a 100 patients were managed and 6 times the normal number of prescriptions were done despite the internet going down and the phone lines and cellular system being overloaded. This continued on Tuesday and Wednesday before tapering down on Thursday and Friday as the lockdown took effect.

Dr. Aidan Williams phone triaging a patient for a virtual consult or practice visit.
Makeshift barriers to keep reception staff a safe distance from patients in the waiting room

In the midst of this we started to run influenza vaccination clinics. These were entirely dependent on deliveries of vaccine orders but we managed to administer around 60 on Tuesday and Wednesday and almost 200 on Friday.

Nurse Shannin Howe administering an influenza vaccine in the car park

History was made today with Dr. Beth Walsh doing the first two video consultations from the Tarawera Medical Centre. This had been set up and tested on Wednesday and Thursday and used for 2 consultations on Friday. This allowed patients to be seen and assessed in their homes while under lockdown.

Well spaced patients waiting for a influenza vaccination

This week has been a steep and stressful learning curve for us but the amazing team at the Tarawera Medical Centre have done an incredible job with many doing extra hours and days at times at very short notice. New skills have had to be learnt fast and all have stepped up and made rapid progress. This effort has been made easy by the incredibly understanding, supportive and appreciative feedback of our patients.

A well spaced queue down Onslow St waiting for influenza vaccinations

It is easy to underestimate the importance of this lockdown. We have one chance to starve the coronavirus of the opportunity to spread. If we don’t take it seriously and do the job right we will pay a price we would rather not. Stay home and stay safe.

Influenza Vaccine Clinic Friday 27 March 2pm

This entry was posted in Health promotion News on by

Our order of influenza vaccines finally arrived this morning so we will be running a clinic this afternoon from 2pm. This will again run at the PathLab side of the Medical Centre and we will keep going until we run out of vaccines or patients.

Please remember to keep your 2m spacing distance and bring a hat/jacket /umbrella in case the forecast rain develops. Spread the word so that as many people can get immunised as possible.