Vaccination eligibility expanded

The Government has expanded the list of essential workers eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination to include frontline staff who interact with customers under Alert Level 4 and transport, utilities and logistic services directly supporting the vaccination programme.

The new Group 2(c) includes people who work in and interact with customers including in hardware and DIY stores (only for the purpose of selling to trade customers).

It also includes essential workers in nationally important infrastructure roles who don't interact directly with frontline customers, for example distribution centre staff in the grocery industry, electricity, water companies, freight and logistics, or individual tradespeople who need to go into people's homes to undertake emergency work e.g. plumbers and electricians.

In expanding this group, the government recognises the increased risk that people in this group face of contracting COVID-19 in the course of their work.

People in these workplaces will be able to receive vaccinations as soon as possible, without having to wait until 1 September to book.

DHBs will work directly with employers of Group 2(c) workers to organise vaccinations.

The Ministry is working with DHBs to facilitate this as quickly as possible. While we are in lockdown, DHBs will work directly with larger employers of essential workers to organise vaccinations for their staff.

The Accord will work with industry leaders, other MBIE officials and Ministry of Health to assess how vaccination access for essential workers in the construction sector might be prioritised, for example those doing maintenance work for health and safety reasons under Alert Level 4.

The Accord will also support work on developing drive-through vaccination for construction sector workers.

The essential workers prioritised by the Ministry of Health, in the first instance, are:

• Frontline staff in services and businesses in which customers/clients enter their workplaces under Alert Level 4, for example supermarkets and dairies.
• Other services/business that have direct in person interactions with customers/clients under Alert Level 4, for example hostels, accommodation, foodbanks, social and community services.
• Essential workers in nationally important infrastructure roles for New Zealand, for example distribution centre staff in the grocery industry, and electricity and water companies.

Not all staff in these services or businesses will be prioritised for vaccination. It is only those people in roles that interact with customers/clients and those in critical roles that are needed to maintain nationally important infrastructure.

Workplace vaccination

Separate to this planning for the workplace vaccination programme continues.

Vaccination providers that responded to the EOI process and have been identified as possible workplace vaccination sites, have been asked to work with workplaces to gather site and workforce information, and assess their workforce capacity.

Please work together with your nominated workplace / provider to provide this information to cvipworkplaces@health.govt.nz as soon as possible.

Book your vaccination

COVID-19: How to book your vaccination(external link) - health.govt.nz