Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Why are more than a million eligible Kiwis unboosted?

Around one million eligible New Zealanders have yet to receive their booster vaccination, which experts fear may leave the country more vulnerable to another Omicron outbreak. 

A second booster for at-risk adults has been authorized by the government, and health professionals informed the Herald that they are concerned that over a quarter of those who are qualified have not yet received their shots.

More than four million people, or around 95 percent, had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but just 1,224 shots were given out on Saturday, despite 72 percent of the eligible population having been re-vaccinated. Some 96.3 percent have been vaccinated, and less than 200,000 people haven't had one dosage at all.

Auckland, Counties-Manukau, Waitemata, Canterbury, and Waikato have the most unboosted residents.

That Omicron was able to defy vaccination immunity – one big study assessed booster protection against symptomatic infection to be just around 50% – and this also diminished over months revealed that the virus could often dodge vaccine immunity.

Studies, on the other hand, have shown that boosting is still a highly efficient method of preventing infection and, ultimately, hospitalisation and death from the virus.

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