COVID vaccination continues to roll out over the Bay of Plenty with a clinic in Kawerau every Monday and Tuesday. All people in Group 3 are currently eligible. This includes all over 65 years of age and anyone over 16 with certain underlying conditions. Please visit the the DHB Covid Vaccination website for current details.
Vaccinations are by appointment only so please phone 0800 829 001 to book your appointment.
Next week there will only be a Influenza Vaccination Clinic on Thursday 29 April from 2:30 to 4pm. This is still only for patients aged 65 and over.
We have had an excellent response to date with many vaccinations done. The vaccine for those under 65 will become available next month and we will update details once this has arrived
Influenza vaccinations will be available for patients over the age of 65 from Wednesday 14 April.
We will again be running afternoon vaccination clinics from the PathLab side of the building in the afternoons from 2:30 to 4pm. These will run as they did last year outside the building and will depend on vaccine availability.
Influenza vaccines for patients under 65 with chronic conditions will be available from May. Currently available vaccines are for over 65 only.
Our website has been back in operation since yesterday morning. This frustrating outage was caused by issues with an update that was exacerbated by a webhost solution that made the problem much worse and required repeated support calls over 4 days to finally resolve. Testing over the past 24 hours has revealed no issues and the update to a secure site has been achieved.
As this unique year draws to a close we would like to wish all our patients a safe and happy holiday season.
Tarawera Medical Centre will be open as normal except on the stat holidays of Christmas Day, Monday 28th December, New Years Day and Monday 4 December. These days will be covered by the usual after hours service based at Whakatane Hospital.
A year ago we could not have anticipated what 2020 would bring us and despite being in one of the most fortunate positions in the world COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the practice. Managing the sudden change to largely virtual consults during the lockdown was challenging and the return to level 1 a relief.
We are still losing a GP and nurse session a day to COVID-19 because we still need to see all respiratory conditions in our cabin with PPE. This is making it difficult to keep up with all the other usual tasks and is causing some longer than usual waits for appointments. Almost all patients have been very supportive and understanding of these difficult circumstances.
As 2021 progresses we are going to be faced with the challenge of rolling out vaccines. This going also be a drain on resources but a positive one as it will hopefully get us closer to a new normal and enable more efficient practice if the COVID-19 threat can be reduced by wide vaccine coverage.
We hope you all enjoy a restful and safe holiday season.
