Doctors would rather be busy delivering boosters than busy dealing with Covid this summer, says Chair of the New Zealand Medical Association's General Practitioner Council, Dr Vanessa Weenink.
"Health care provided in the community makes the largest contribution to the health of New Zealanders - doctors, nurses, pharmacists and vaccinators everywhere are exhausted after a busy year, and many have been looking forward to a summer break," Vanessa says.
"New Zealand has enjoyed a world-leading pandemic response due to the hard work and commitment of our healthcare professionals.
"It's really tough to consistently deliver the world-leading patient care New Zealanders expect when our professionals are tired, burnt out and overwhelmed, so we strongly support all measures to keep Covid, Delta and now Omicron from overwhelming our health system.
"General Practice has been disproportionately impacted by a long-standing under investment in health, and this urgently needs to be rectified if we want to get all kiwis boosted, prevent huge wait-times for deferred care, and avoid our hospitals from being overwhelmed by Covid patients.
"The forthcoming health system reforms are an opportunity to recognise and invest in General Practice for the important work they do to protect the health New Zealanders.
"The emergence of new Covid variants shows that none of us safe until we all are: we strongly support the call from the World Health Organisation to vaccinate the Third World and those with low vaccination rates.
"The timing is tricky, but we'd rather be busy with boosters than busy dealing with Covid so we will continue to do what we can," Vanessa says.
