Nearly 9000 University of Otago students have had at least one Covid-19 vaccination.
After calls for a pop-up vaccination centre in the university area this week, Ngai Tahu-operated health provider Te Kaika confirmed it would run a large clinic at Forsyth Barr Stadium next week.
The clinic will be open on Monday and Tuesday, from 9am to 4pm.
University acting vice-chancellor Prof Helen Nicholson said the initiative largely had been driven by Maori and Pacific students with support from the University.
‘‘Nationally, the vaccination rates for Maori and Pacific whanau have been low and this initiative aims to ensure that all of our students have equitable access to the vaccine.
‘‘While this clinic is targeted at our Maori and Pacific students, we are encouraging all of our students to get vaccinated.
‘‘We also acknowledge that a significant number of people working with Te Kaika, whether that be as vaccinators or kaimahi, are Otago graduates.’’
Prof Nicholson said where capacity allowed, the Southern District Health Board had enabled some Dunedin students to be vaccinated at vaccination clinics, and many students in residential colleges and the wider community had already been vaccinated.
Information provided by the health board yesterday showed that 6513 of Dunedin students have had their first dose, and an additional 2456 were fully vaccinated.
Although the national Covid-19 vaccination rollout has only just started taking bookings for those aged 30-plus, the infection rate of the Delta strain of the virus has proved to be higher for younger people.