A new 0800 phone number is now available for Pacific people to call to get help making a free COVID-19 vaccination booking for the whole household. The free 0800 21 12 21 number is for Pacific peoples aged 12 and over and focuses on booking Pacific people and their household bubble. It operates 7 days from 8am to 8pm.
The service is being provided by South Seas Healthcare, which is the longest established Pacific health provider in New Zealand.
South Seas CEO, Lemalu Silao Vaisola-Sefo says the new 0800 number is critical to helping boost the number of Pacific people getting vaccinated.
“South Seas Healthcare runs the Otara Vaccination site, which was the first Pacific vaccination site to be set up in Auckland. We also have a call centre as part of the COVID Healthline services so it made sense to set up an 0800 number for Pacific people to call and be able to speak to a Pacific staff member.”
The 0800 number has been set up to support the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.
Moananu Anna Redican Kolose, Pacific Lead for COVID-19 vaccinations at the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC), says having the direct, free 0800 phone number for Pacific communities aims to help make it easier for Pacific people to get vaccinated.
The 0800 21 12 21 number is answered by Pacific staff and offers language services in Samoan, Tongan, i-Kiribati and Cook Island languages and is looking to increase this to include other Pacific languages.
Image credit: Ministry of Health/NZ Government