Verrall AyeshaHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Associate Minister of Health): Through vaccinations we will secure New Zealand greater freedoms. We have rolled out the most effective vaccine to New Zealand a vaccine that will prevent hospitalisations and deaths a vaccine that has an exceptional safety profile and due to the efforts of this Government and the team of 5 million we are on track for very high rates of vaccination across the country. Announced yesterday was the plan that we will be able to vaccinate people with immune compromise with a third dose to make sure that those most vulnerable members of our community remain protected by vaccination because we have found in studies that sometimes they do not seroconvert in their first one or two doses. In addition Minister Hipkins mentioned today that we anticipate the application from Pfizer for booster doses to go through our regulatory process next week so that we can ensure that this protection is sustained. Momentum is up in our vaccination campaign due to the efforts of this Government and the team of 5 million. On Super Saturday we vaccinated over 2 percent of our population—a world-topping statistic. But what I want to mention was the absolute stars of Super Saturday—our community providers. They go to parts of our community where no one else can. They reach the people the health system has for too long struggled to reach. I spent Super Saturday with my colleague Barbara Edmonds in Mana. We went to Maraeroa Marae. It was not like your standard vaccination clinic. In the wharenui they were practising rongoā there was a hāngī outside. In the whare kai the Māori Women's Welfare League dished out advice and good cheer. In Cannons Creek there was the atmosphere of the Creekfest down in The Cage" which is what they call the basketball court. Pacific health providers enjoyed music and dance and vaccinated the community. We had fun. We got to see the director-general's dance moves. And while it was couched in the shtick of telethon what the vaxathon achieved was it mobilised the community. In particular up and down the country it mobilised the power of the aunties and the aunties were out in force waving flags in Auckland waving people into the vaccination centre making sure everyone felt that they fitted in and felt comfortable. In my own family my mother a retired teacher got on the phone and called 60 former students to get vaccinated. Once again we have reignited the power of the team of 5 million to look out for one another. Our hauora providers our Pacific providers community organisations—they were the stars of Super Saturday. Their success is an inspiration. It is them that we should look to for the solutions to the problems our health system faces in the future. We have a way to go to make sure that everyone in New Zealand is protected and it is so important to remember that in this pandemic our success will be determined by reaching everyone. There will be no room in the hospital if there are pockets of people who are inadequately vaccinated. So by reaching everyone that is how we secure access to health resources that will make sure that we continue to have a functioning health system that we value whether we ourselves are vaccinated or not. So I want to thank all the members of this House from both sides who participated in the Super Saturday event and all the community providers who brought their magic to making it a remarkable event and one that protected so many members of our community."