TRAFFIC LIGHTS ARE COMING – RED or ORANGE? ALSO LATEST VACCINATION DATA

Today we bring you the latest Vaccination  data as supplied by the Governments Covid-19 site here.

The Government has announced that the new system that operates under the three traffic lights of Green, Oragne or Red will come into effect from midnight on 3 December. It heralds the arrival of different rules for different folkes and all determined on if you are fully vaccinated. Like it or not, it is a reality and legislation through the New Zealand Parliament has been rushed through this week to bring it into law.

The impact on this will be challenging for those unvaccinated or in families with combinations of vaccinated and non vaccinated people. As an example, the colour red or orange on the traffic light system prevents access to everything apart from contactless hospitality.  This means takeaways with swipe card payment are okay but you will be prevented from going to pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants unless it is to pick up your purchase. The differences between red and orange are quite significant and these are expalned in the chart below.

If you are not vaccinated then come December 3 you will be restricted in what and where you are able to go. Whether we enter the traffic lights on Red or Orange seems to be mostly determined by our vaccination rates. It will also be influenced by the liklihood of a number of Aucklanders whoi will travel to our region from Auckland that will be red. Our vaccination rates are way behind Auckland and below the Waikato average rate. As can be seen by the charts below. These charts contain data as at 24 November.

You can see from this data that Thames/Coromandel 1 dose at 85.9% compares to Wakato at 90.1% and New Zealand 91.5%. Second dose is 78.9% compared to Waikato 81.7% and New Zealand 84%. Hauraki selected areas that reflect our broadcast locations show a 1 dose vaccination comparitive of 81.4% and again way below Waikato 90.1% and NZ 91.5%. Second dose is also way behind with 71.7% compared to 81.7% Waikato and 84% for NZ.

We are hearing more and more stories that show the direct threat that Covid can be. One of our own teams father who is in his eighties is battling for his life in an Auckland Hospital with Covid. Has no idea how he caught the virus and is in his eighties. With jus a week before the new system comes into operation, the need for vaccinations has never been more urgent. The following are locations where pop up vaccinations are available this weekend.

Today there is a special pop up vaccination centre and CFM and our team will be broadcasting live there from 1pm till 7pm. Come and join us in Mary Street at Create The vibe.