Federated Farmers board member Wayne Langford says farmers need to have on-farm safety protocols in place to reduce the risk of infection.
Community leaders fear a surge of covid infection in rural communities as holidaymakers disperse around the country over summer, stretching health services and leaving farms and businesses without staff.
Mid Canterbury general practitioner Sue Fowlie says the spread of the Delta strain into rural areas was inevitable and makes it even more crucial rural people get vaccinated.
She says being too busy will pale into insignificance compared to the impact of contracting the virus.
“People should not think it is not coming to rural areas, because it is,” Fowlie said.
“If farmers come down with covid, how are they going to run their farms?”
Federated Farmers board member Wayne Langford agrees and urges farmers to plan to reduce infection risk.
That could include insisting visitors such as contractors are double vaccinated and kept at a safe distance, using hand sanitisers and using mapping technology to direct contractors to paddocks instead of accompanying them.
“These seem like small things, but they could have a big impact in keeping the virus from getting into the community,” Langford said.
Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa NZ clinical director Dr Jeremy Webber says rural communities are already vulnerable due to limited health resources and that would be accentuated should a doctor or nurse become infected or required to stand down following exposure.
Volunteer first responders would potentially be exposed when transporting a rural covid patient to hospital.
Discussions are under way between rural health providers and the Ministry of Health (MoH) to address some of these concerns, but officials are currently focused on the growing covid numbers in north Waikato and Auckland.
“We are mindful the virus will pop up and if we are not careful in how we manage resources, we will be up against it,” Webber said.
The best form of defence is to get vaccinated and if people are unwell, they should stay at home and be tested.
“It is very clear rural communities think they are isolated, but they do not want to be holed up in the backblocks struggling to breath when they are supposed to be making hay,” he said.
Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) national commander Kerry Gregory says a government order requires any FENZ member who works within two metres of a health practitioner providing services to the public for more than 15 minutes, or where our people’s work requires contact with children or students, to be vaccinated.
They are required to have their first vaccination before or on November 29 and their second dose before or on January 14.
Gregory says FENZ has protocols and procedures to follow.
“They wear protective gear, which can include masks, medical gowns, gloves and glasses, and socially distance where possible,” Gregory said.
MoH vaccination rates between urban and rural centres are closing, but data shows many rural communities are still to reach 90% for receiving their first shot.
The data is categorised according to rural population in each District Health Board and shows parts of Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Capital Coast, Southern and Wairarapa have areas with 90% first vaccination. All rural areas have achieved 75% or better.
Figures for the second shot are much lower, with just 48% in parts of the Bay of Plenty, 61% in Taranaki, 66% in Tairawhiti and 68% in Northland, but parts of rural Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Capital Coast, South Canterbury, Southern And Wairarapa have all reached 80% or better.
A Ministry spokesperson says a flexible approach has been adopted for rural areas, such as offering vaccinations to everyone aged 12 and over and holding mobile clinics and permanent and pop-up sites close to where people live and work.
Walk-in clinics were held in local halls in Taranaki from the end of September to coincide with the end of calving and at convenient times for farmers.
The Southern DHB is working with more than 110 providers to ensure its rural population is no more than an hour away from a clinic and they are visiting workplaces and providing evening and weekend clinics.
In Northland four mobile campervans have been mobilised to complement mobile clinics operated by the Māori health providers.
