Call to cap trans-Tasman arrivals as Māori vaccine rates lag

Friday, 25 June 2021

Waikawa Marae chairperson Rita Powick said getting the vaccine at the marae, rather than in a “clinical space”, made everyone very relaxed.

Health advocates are calling for a cap on arrivals from Australia, a pause of the roll-out to non-Māori in vaccine priority group four, increased vaccinations of Māori and targeted communications.

The call comes as the national rate of Covid-19 vaccinations for Māori has stayed below that of other ethnicities for the past two months.

The vaccination rate per 1000 people was 178 for Māori, compared to 241 for European or other, 268 for Asian, and 250 for Pacific.

Māori make up 16.7 per cent of New Zealand’s population but just 7.5 per cent of the fully-vaccinated population, health researcher Dr Rawiri Taonui said.

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Dr Rawiri Taonui, independent writer and former academic, said Māori providers needed to be given more flexibility to vaccinate people outside of the priority levels.

“It’s been five or six weeks now that I’ve been tracking it and Māori rates are just limping along. It’s not good enough.”

Research published last year showed Māori were 50 per cent more likely to die from Covid-19.

Taonui said the trans-Tasman bubble posed an increased risk for Māori and suggested the number of arrivals should be capped until more of the population is inoculated against Covid-19.

“If we have a multiple location event in New Zealand that represents a real and significant risk to Māori communities if we have low vaccination rates.”

Taonui criticised the Government’s Covid-19 vaccination strategy as “vague” and confusing.

Some Māori were unaware they had a pre-existing health condition and would be eligible for the vaccine under group three, he said.

Older kaumatua believed the Government had only saved 40,000 doses for Māori, after an announcement the Ministry of Health had ring-fenced doses for that group.

Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen, a co-leader of Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā, and GP said some health boards were achieving better vaccination rates among Māori, despite the Government not prioritising Māori of every age.

Taonui said vaccine providers should have the flexibility to offer it to anyone who turned up.

“You need to put the age requirement to the side and recognise that poorer populations and those with higher health risks … you just need to vaccinate as many people as you can.”

Papakura GP and National Māori Pandemic Group, Whakakaupapa Urutā, co-leader Dr Rawiri Jansen said achieving an equitable vaccination programme would not be done through demographic proportionality alone as Māori were clearly more vulnerable to poor outcomes from the disease.

“…the impact of Covid-19 in Māori communities would be catastrophic.”

Jansen resigned from a Government Covid-19 expert advisory group after it rejected a proposal, by Māori health leaders, to include all Māori as a priority group based on their higher levels of risk from the disease.

Jansen said vaccine rates varied between different district health board areas and this showed higher rates could be achieved “with deliberate, determined and relentless application of a programme that delivers to Māori”.

“It won’t happen by accident, it will happen because you organise for it to happen.”

Australia and Canada had prioritised indigenous people for the vaccine, but New Zealand had not done the same, focusing on border workers, age and health status instead.

Canterbury health board’s director of Māori and Pacific health Hector Matthews said fewer Māori worked at the border, lived in aged residential care or worked in frontline health roles, and this explained the lower vaccination rates.

Data from the board showed 8.4 per cent of the Māori population enrolled with a GP had been vaccinated, compared to 11.3 per cent of the European and other population, 11.4 per cent of Pasifika and 11.9 per cent of the Asian population.

A Ministry of Health spokesman said the Government recognised the importance of “connecting with all of our ethnic communities.

He said Māori and Pacific providers would “play a crucial role in the roll-out to maximise uptake and achieve equitable coverage for Māori and Pacific peoples”.

“As the vaccine programme rolls-out, the advertising campaign will gain momentum with a focus on encouraging all of Aotearoa to get vaccinated.

“We will be working with a range of agencies to ensure the campaign resonates with different audiences.”