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January 24, 2022
Tamariki vax critical for Omicron protection
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira
Posted On January 24, 2022
Download AudioGet your tamariki vaccinated before they go back to kura.
That’s the call from Turuki Healthcare clinical director Dr Lily Fraser as another community outbreak of Covid looms.
The country switched back to the red setting at midnight after nine members of a Nelson family tested positive for the Omicron variant after a trip to Auckland.
Dr Fraser says while the virus is generally less harmful to tamariki, there’s still a risk.
“Because their immune system responds so well to the vaccine because they are still young so if they get it they are less likely to go to hospital or, worst-case scenario, die from it, which is really rare so I don’t want to be scaremongering, but it does significantly reduce that,” she says.
Māori vaccinations rates are still to low, particularly among rangatahi, so she’s encouraging people to roll up their sleeves before Omicron sets in.
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