26 August 2021

On Wednesday 25 August, all New Zealanders aged 30-plus became eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, and Whanganui’s MP was among the first to take advantage of the opportunity to help protect Aotearoa.

Steph Lewis had her first dose just after midday on Wednesday at Te Rito, the Whanganui Wellness and Vaccination Centre in Victoria Avenue, with site lead Kanta Sharma doing the honours.

No pain, plenty of gain was the outcome for the MP who was one of a record 1210 people getting vaccinated in the Whanganui region that day.

“It didn’t hurt, and I’m feeling wonderful,” said Lewis.

“It was all so easy, very well-organised and the staff were really friendly, especially when you realise how busy and stressful their work can be.

“I take my hat off to our health workers – they are doing vaccinations, COVID testing, their usual work, and they must be doing some very long hours.”

Lewis was particularly pleased to see the Whanganui District Health Board at the top of the national stats for vaccines per head of population.

“The uptake is really good, and I encourage everyone to take advantage and get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

At 8am on Thursday 26 August, Whanganui had delivered a total of 43,275 which equates to 40 per cent of its total vaccination target.

Anyone aged 30 or above is now eligible and appointments can be booked by calling 0800 28 29 26 or going online to BookMyVaccine.