COVID-19: Workplace vaccinations

Some businesses or organisations may be able to offer workplace COVID-19 vaccinations. The focus will be on large businesses, but there are some circumstances where small businesses might be eligible.

Vaccinations at work

The Ministry of Health is working with businesses, vaccination providers and District Health Boards to start workplace vaccinations as part of the vaccine rollout. The aim is to make getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as easy as possible, by offering people the opportunity to get a vaccine at work.

Eligibility criteria

Not all workplaces will be able to offer COVID-19 vaccinations. The focus will be on larger workforces, but there are some circumstances where smaller businesses may be eligible, eg, if you have Māori, Pasifika or rural workforces. If your business or organisation is in a building or complex with a number of other employers, you may also be able to band together to be counted as one workplace. In this case, one employer would need to be nominated as the lead.

Workplaces that meet the criteria will need to:

1. have delivered a vaccine programme onsite before (eg the flu vaccine), and
2. be able to provide staff to carry out specified roles and responsibilities, particularly logistical tasks to support worker engagement, processes in case of a recall, and cultural and religious safety
3. be able to offer high volumes of vaccinations (several hundred) per day. There needs to be a minimum of 70 vaccinations per day to make it logistically and financially viable for vaccine providers, and either
   • be considered to be amongst the largest workplaces/employers by size of workforce, or
   • be a workplace or employer with high Māori, Pasifika or ethnic populations, or have a workforce that’s harder to reach, eg due to a rural location, or shift work.

Which workers will be eligible to get vaccinated in a workplace programme?

All workers, including employees or contractors, of an employer offering workplace vaccinations will be able to access a vaccine. Whānau and other workplace visitors won’t initially be part of the workplace vaccination programme.

Source: business.govt.nz

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