A new team has been established within the COVID vaccination healthline, in response to feedback from the disability sector on barriers to accessing vaccination information and booking support.
In its first two weeks, the 30-strong team has supported more than 440 disabled people.
“As part of our plan to give every eligible person the opportunity to get vaccinated by the end of the year, we are ensuring it is both easy and accessible for everyone, including disabled people,” COVID response minister Chris Hipkins said.
To access the team, people can call the free COVID Vaccination Healthline on 0800 28 29 26, between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday, and ‘push 2’ to speak to the team.
The team is made up of dedicated advisors who are either living with disability themselves, have close whānau living with disability or, in a few cases, have extensive experience working with members of the disability community. Advisors work from home across Aotearoa, and recruitment is underway to further expand the workforce.
The team support disabled people and their carers to get information about the vaccine, make bookings (including support identifying suitable sites or liaising with sites to ensure that needs can be met), and supporting transport needs. Transport has been one of the things that has been identified as a barrier to vaccination for many disabled people.
In the first week examples of support being arranged included ensuring sites have mobility assistance in place, arranging NZ Sign Language interpreters, rearranging transport options after initial transport options became unavailable, 1737 counsellors being arranged to support people with anxiety, and other tailored solutions developed for people in conjunction with District Health Boards.
The team is able to support all those that identify as having a disability including:
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Deaf and hard of hearing
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Blind and low vision
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Physically disability
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Intellectually disability
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Neuro diverse
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Long term health conditions.
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The pathway is a collaboration between WorkBridge, Capital and Coast DHB, and Whakarongorau Aotearoa – New Zealand Telehealth Services.
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