Covid-19: Nearly 400 vaccines in four hours at new Porirua drive-thru vaccine clinic aimed at Māori, Pasifika

Thursday, 26 August 2021

Hundreds of people in Porirua have received their first Covid-19 vaccinations from the comfort of their cars at a drive-through clinic specifically aimed at the Māori and Pasifika community.

An “immensely popular” drive-thru vaccination centre in Porirua aimed at Māori and Pasifika communities administered nearly 400 vaccines over four hours on its first day of opening.

More than 100 cars had queued up for the clinic, which was held in an underground car park at North City Shopping Centre, less than an hour after opening at 10am on Wednesday.

It is the second drive-thru vaccination clinic to open in the Wellington region, the other operating at Waiwhetū Medical Centre in Lower Hutt.

Hutt Valley DHB and Capital & Coast DHB chief executive Fionnagh Dougan said they were actively working towards organising further drive-thru clinics across the region in the coming days, including one in Wellington city.

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More than a hundred cars were queued up at various entrance points at Porirua’s drive-thru vaccination clinic, less than an hour after it opened.

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Vanessa Masoe of the Porirua City Council greeted people in their cars as they arrived.

Dozens of cars arrived prior to opening at the Porirua clinic, which being driven by Ngāti Toa’s health care arm, Ora Toa.

Queues of cars stretched along several roads as people waited for their vaccines.

A Ngāti Toa spokeswoman said nearly 400 vaccines were administered over a four-hour period.

The clinic will be open again from 10am until 2pm on Friday, with further dates and times still to be confirmed, she said.

Porirua City Council asked people to avoid driving around the mall area unless they were getting their vaccine.

While the clinic is aimed at Māori and Pasifika communities, anyone was able to turn up and be vaccinated.

Dougan said the clinic had been “immensely popular” on its first day.

“So much so that there were enough people in the queue to be vaccinating beyond the 2pm planned closing time. Anyone arriving after the queue closed is being redirected around the corner to the Community Vaccination Centre at Lydney Place North.

Porirua resident Daniel Prasad arrived an hour before the clinic opened to wait in line for his vaccine.

Porirua City Council posted to social media asking for people to avoid travel around the mall area and asked those who were visiting the vaccination clinic to be patient and kind.

“The drive-through vaccination centre at New World in Porirua is creating traffic issues around Porirua's city centre, with Hagley, Lyttleton, Titahi Bay Rd and others snarled up.

Police and traffic management staff were at the site to manage the queues.

Porirua resident Daniel Prasad arrived an hour before the clinic opened at 9am, and queued up in a line of 25 to 35 cars.

After about two hours, he and his brother received their first jab.

“I knew there would be a long queue anyway, so that’s why we came early,” he said.

Prasad, who works in the mall, said the process was quick and easy, and better than booking a vaccine online and waiting for an appointment.

He said the staff were doing well and were a friendly team.

Once people received their vaccine, they were required to wait in their cars for 15 minutes before being allowed to exit the car park.

The clinic will run on Friday from 10-2pm. Bookings are not required and people were encouraged to come in their bubbles, with no more than four to a vehicle.