Covid-19 booster vaccination rates are dropping. (File photo) Photo: AFP
The latest wave of Covid-19 is being driven by low vaccination rates, a health expert says.
Latest number show 50 hospitalisation with the virus within the span of a week.
University of Otago professor of public health Michael Baker said earlier this week, New Zealand was experiencing its ninth wave of the virus.
The chairperson of General Practice New Zealand, Dr Bryan Betty, told Morning Report, vaccination rates were dropping, with the number of people getting a booster hovering at 56 percent.
As Winter came closer, Betty believed we would see the Covid booster being promoted alongside the annual flu vaccination.
"I think lining it up with it [the flu vaccine], does make sense."
He said he would like to see people getting a Covid booster once a year, especially if they were aged over 65, or over 50 if of Māori descent.
Betty noted Covid-19 was not seasonal and affected people year-round.
Covid-19 is not seasonal. (File photo) Photo: 123rf.com
"Covid is always with us, it never goes away. When immunity drops we see a wave. Due to low immunisation rates that wave is occurring at the moment."
Betty said 56 percent of the eligible population had the Covid-19 booster while 14 percent of non-Māori and 28 percent of Māori were not vaccinated at all.
"The booster vaccination is important to protect yourself against these very irregular waves of Covid that can occur," Betty said.
Health NZ's national director of public health service Dr Nick Chamberlain, said while Covid hospitalisations and cases had increased in recent weeks, levels remained below previous peaks.
"Since the arrival of Covid in our communities, we have been seeing both summer and winter Covid-19 increases, but from the available data, recent increases are currently not near the magnitude of 2022-2024 rates of Covid-19 illness."
Chamberlain said since fewer people were testing and reporting results, most cases were identified in hospitals. He said there was no single dominant variant driving the increase.
Health NZ was monitoring Covid-19 trends through wastewater testing, hospital data, genomic sequencing and case reporting, he said.
"As we head into winter, we encourage people, particularly those at higher risk, to get your flu vaccination and stay up to date with their Covid‑19 boosters."
Betty said lots of patients weren't testing due to the fact tests were not subsidised by the government.
"Our advice is to stay home in those situations."
This story has been updated to remove the reference to 19 deaths.
The Covid-19 dashboard [https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-professionals/data-and-statistics/covid-19/reporting found here]: reports the number of deaths reported in the last 7 and 30 days. These are not deaths which occurred during these time periods; they are deaths which occurred prior to 18 July 2025 and have been coded as Covid-19 attributed in the underlying dataset within the 7 or 30-day reporting period.
The Covid-19 dashboard does not include any deaths which occurred on or after 18 July 2025.
Prior to 18 July 2025, coding of Covid-19 attributed deaths was prioritised to allow for rapid reporting of these deaths. After this date, Covid-19 attributed deaths are being reported consistently with all other death reporting in New Zealand. Mortality Collection process is more robust, albeit subject to significant lag - presently, preliminary data for 2022, provisional data for 2021, and complete data for the years prior has been published. The number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 on the dashboard will change over time, as while they occurred at any time prior to 18 July 2025, they were coded as being attributed to Covid-19 subsequently.
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