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The Health Ministry’s deputy director general of Māori health says the current lockdown is far less disruptive of medical services than previous efforts.
During the first lockdown elective surgery and outpatient clinics were largely curtailed, and vaccination schedules were disrupted.
John Whaanga says health authorities learned a lot from last year’s general lockdown and the Auckland cluster lockdown.
"When we first went into lockdown last year I think there was a view a lot of the planned care would need to be suspended. I think we've got a much better view now of what can be undertaken safely, and that's the last part – we've got to make sure to keep our health workforce and our patients safe," he says.
Mr Whaanga says the ministry is hearing the calls to extend vaccination beyond fixed and pop up clinics to some sort of street corner approach, but at the moment its concerns are about the logistics of moving healthcare workers around.
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