‘Oku taupotu ‘i lalo ha fakamatala fakaTonga
The number of New Zealanders who have had a second booster shot is much lower than people who had a first booster shot.
Covid modeller Dr Emily Harvey said many people who were eligible for a second booster had received their last injection more than a year ago.
Dr Harvey told the New Zealand Herald that while protection from vaccination waned over time, the waning of protection against severe disease was much slower than for protection against infection.
“This means that any increase in vaccination and booster levels will help to reduce hospitalisation numbers.”
Dr Dion OāNeale from Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa said vaccination remained the best protection.
The group has been trying to predict what the next wave of the Covid-19 virus will look like in New Zealand, but said there was not enough information to predict exactly what would happen.
Nor was there any evidence to show what toll it is likely to take on the community.
There was no immediate evidence to suggest that the new variants of Covid that would probably feature in any third wave were any more severe than their Omicron predecessors.
Reinfections make up about 13% of cases. Researchers have suggested that people who were infected during the original wave in 2020 were more at risk now because their immunity would have diminished
Meanwhile, Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said the warmer weather did not affect the Covid variants most of concern because they were so infectious.
“They get a bit of a boost from winter when people are indoors more, but they don’t absolutely need winter conditions to spread,” Professor Baker said.
As Kaniva News reported yesterday, the two variants currently of concern are XBB and BQ1.1.
Professor Baker said XBB was driving the surge of infections in Singapore.
“That may be what we’ll see here,” he said.
FAKAMATALA FAKATONGA
āOku tÅ lalo āa e tokolahi āo e kakai Nuāu Sila kuo nau huhu maluāi pusita uaā āi he tokolahi āo e kau pusita āuluaki.
Pehe āe he MÅtela āo e Kovitiā ko Dr Emily Harvey ko e tokolahi āo e kakai ne lava ke nau huhu maluāi pusita ua ne fakahoko ia laka hake āi he taāu āe taha kuo hiliā.
Ne fakahaāe Dr Harvey ki he New Zealand Herald lolotonga āoku holo e mÄlohiā o ehuhu maluāi he āalu āa e taimiā, oku mÄmÄlie ange holo āene maluāi āi he kakaha āa e mahaki āi heāene maluāi āa e pipihi.
āOku āuhinga āeni ka fakalahi āa e huhu maluāi mo e pusitaaā āe tokoni ia ke fakasiāsiāi āa e tokolahi āo e kau tÄkoto falemahakiā.
Pehe āe Dr Dion OāNeale mei he Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa oku kei hoko pe āa e huhu maluāi ko e maluāi lelei taha ia mei he mahaki.
Oku feinga āa e kulupu ni ke vavaloāi pe āe fÅtunga fefe āa e vailasi āo e Koviti ka hoko maiā āi Nuāu Sila ni pea āoku teāeki ha fakamooni ko e ha e lahi ka tÅ he komiunitiiā.
Naāe teāeki ha fakamooni leva ke ne fokotuāu mai ko e fÅtunga foāou āo e Koviti āe lava ke ne langaāi ha toe aake hono ua mai āo e mahaki āe ala kakaha ange ia āi he āOmikoloniā.
Ko e peseta āe 13 ko e toe pihia. Pehe āe he liseesa ko e kakai ne pihia lolotonga āe āuluaki tooā i he 2020 āoku nau ala matuāutamaki ange he taimi ni koeuhi kuo holo āa hono ivi maluāi āimiunitiiā.
Taimi tatau kuo pehe āe PalÅfesa Michale Baker ko e āepitemolosisi mei he āUnivesiti āo Otago ko e mafana ange āa e āea āe āikai ke ne uesia āe ia āa e ngaahi fakafotunga āo e Koviti koeāuhi āoku nau fuāu pipihi.
Nau kiāi alÄanga ange mo e momoko āo ala mahiki ai āenau pipihi he taimi āoku nofo fale ai āa e kakai ka āoku āikai āuhinga ia āoku nau fiemaāu ke momoko e āeaā ka nau toki mafola, ko e lau ia āa e Palofesa Baker.
HangÄ ko e lipooti āa e Kaniva āaneafiā, ko e ongo fÅtunga āe ua āoku fai ki ha āa e hohaāaā ko e XBB mo e BQ1.1.
Pehe āe baker ko e XBB āoku tuāunga ai āa e mahiki āa e mahaki āi Singapore.
Mahalo ko e meāa ia te ala maāu heni, ko āene lau ia.