Foodstuffs North Island says it is mobilising stores, team members and friends to back tomorrow’s ‘Super Saturday’ Covid-19 Vaxathon vaccination drive.
The Warehouse Group is also on board, offering more than $30,000 worth of spot prizes who show up to take the jab.
While the initiatives might not be quite as exciting as Air New Zealand’s ‘vaccination jet’ – where a limited number of people can be vaccinated in the business-class cabin of a plane parked inside an Auckland International Airport hanger before enjoying refreshments in economy – it reflects the broad commitment of large companies and the community towards helping the country achieve a vaccination rate of 90 per cent or more required to open the country up again.
Tomorrow marks the start of a week-long effort led by the health ministry to deliver 500,000 vaccinations into the arms of eligible New Zealanders who have not yet had their first or second shot.
Foodstuffs North Island CEO Chris Quin said everyone in the company’s 24,000-strong team would be able to play a part in supporting the initiative he described as “unlike anything New Zealand has seen before”.
“We made a commitment to be Here for NZ and made a promise to support our communities to thrive. As part of our support for the country’s first-ever Vaxathon, many of our stores will become vaccination sites with our store owners working hand-in-hand with local groups to help protect their communities. Other stores are providing incentives to help encourage people to get a vaccination,” he said.
“We will have a lot of special things for people who get vaccinated, we should all do it because it’s the right thing to do for New Zealand, but these prizes might just create the reason to do it now!”
The Warehouse Group CEO, Nick Grayston, said vaccination is the most important tool Aotearoa has to keep it safe and to “get back to some sense of normality”.
“We’re pleased to play our part in supporting the government’s efforts to get New Zealand above a 90-per-cent vaccination rate.”
The Warehouse Group will be hand out more than $30,000 worth of gift cards tomorrow to encourage people to show up and get vaccinated. Vaccination facilities will be set up in the car parks of a number of stores around the country.
The retailer is also running a nationwide competition through its social channels to win a PlayStation 5. To enter, people need to comment on Facebook why they chose to be, or are going to be vaccinated.
The company has already actively promoted and encouraged team members to get vaccinated against Covid-19 by offering a one-off payment of $100 to all fully vaccinated employees across the group – including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming, and Torpedo7 businesses.
All employees who have received both doses of the vaccine, up to and including November 26, are eligible for the one-off payment.
