Three time Olympic medalist Dame Valerie Adams is used to leading the way in the sporting arena but on Saturday she led a new charge - getting her COVID-19 vaccination and urging the Pacific and Tongan communities to step up when it’s their turn.
Dame Valerie got her first vaccination at the newly-opened Mt Wellington community vaccination centre. She will have her second vaccination in three weeks time before setting off for Europe and a round of competitions before the Tokyo Olympics.
“I know it’s never that much fun (to be vaccinated) but I see it as a sense of responsibility to encourage my Pacific community to come forward and get the vaccination. It’s important because it’s part of keeping our families and our community safe so hopefully this encourage them to seek more information about it and be well informed about the whole process," said Dame Valerie.
“A lot of us also have family overseas and ultimately we want to open the borders so we can travel internally, this is a step in the right direction for doing that,” the four time shot put World Champion added.
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