“A booster helps reduce your chances of serious illness and hospitalisation, which will also reduce the pressure on our health services.”
If you are aged 18 or over, you are eligible for a booster 3 months after your last dose, and if you are 16-17 you are eligible for a booster 6 months after your last dose.
A second booster is recommended for those at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, a minimum of 6 months after a first booster. This includes people aged 65 and over, Māori and Pasifika aged 50 and over, and immunocompromised people.
“Even if you have had COVID-19, you should still get vaccinated to give you the best protection because we don’t know how long your natural immunity will protect you against getting it again, or getting another variant,” Metzler says.
You should wait 3 months after recovery from COVID-19 before getting a COVID-19 vaccination.
Find a vaccination clinic near you, including those offering walk-in vaccinations, on our website: www.southernhealth.nz/COVID19/clinics
Check out our other stories:
Irish sleep proverb key to good health
Stepping into steel-capped boots
Eyes on the prize
Visiting our hospitals - what you keed to know
