Junior vaccinations start

Thumbs up from Ethan Twaddle after his vaccination on Monday watched by his mother Andrea Twaddle, right, and nurse Andrea Johnson at Unichem Family Health in Cambridge.

Ethan Twaddle was one of 1220 Waikato tamariki vaccinated against Covid-19 with the child version of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.

The nine-year-old Cambridge Primary School student was a little apprehensive but quickly recovered to spend the rest of the day boasting about the experience online to his friends.

His mother Andrea Twaddle said her older son William, 12, was vaccinated shortly after his birthday last year while Jacob, 5, was waiting to see how Ethan fared before committing to the vaccination.

Andrea took her son to Unichem Family Health Cambridge where more than 300 people queued throughout the day to get their children vaccinated.

A Waikato DHB spokesperson said there were 43,766 children aged between 5 and 11 in the Waikato who could get their first dose, and their second dose at least eight weeks later.

Meanwhile Waipā continues to lead the way in the Waikato with 93.9 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, just ahead of Hamilton and Waitomo.

Among Māori, another 582 people need to get their second dose to take Waipā from 80 per cent to 90 per cent.

A pop up vaccination clinic will open at the Kihikihi Anglican Church in Lyon Street today (Thursday) and tomorrow from 10.30am to 3.30pm. The Te Awamutu Vaccination Centre Centre in Arawata Street will be open today and tomorrow from 9am to 4pm.

By Tuesday, there were no active Covid-19 cases in Waipā.

Parents or caregivers can book their tamariki and other people book their first, second or booster vaccinations at BookMyVaccine.nz to get immunised with their usual health provider, hauora, pharmacy, or general practice.

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