Health workers doing 'hard mahi' to reach 13,000 unvaccinated Māori in Canterbury

Tuesday, 12 October 2021

Associate minister of health Peeni Henare spoke in Christchurch on Tuesday about Māori vaccination rates.

Māori health workers are doing “hard mahi” to take charge of engaging the 13,000 Māori in Canterbury who remain unvaccinated.

Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare gathered feedback from Māori health providers in Ōtautahi on Tuesday as part of nationwide hui to find out why many district health boards are struggling to raise Covid-19 vaccination rates among Māori.

Māori hauora (health) providers talked of frustrations for Māori in accessing the booking system, finding vaccination times to fit around whānau and work, and the need for a different approach.

Hector Matthews says many Māori do not trust the government or the health system and so are hesitant to get vaccinated.

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Mel Tuliau says many people in the Māori community in Canterbury were still not vaccinated.

Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) Māori and Pacific health executive director Hector Matthews said many working in Māori health said six to eight months ago that things had had to be done ahead of the vaccine roll-out.

“They weren’t done, and now we’re chasing our tails.”

Ivy Harper says the lockdown had been hard on Māori communities.

Many Māori “don’t trust the government, they don’t trust the health system, they don’t trust police because they’ve had the s… kicked out of them for so many years”.

Pegasus hauora manager Mel Tuliau said the vaccination space was “hard mahi”, and there were still 13,000 Māori unvaccinated in Canterbury.

Te Pūtahitanga, Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency for Te Waipounamu, strategic analyst Ivy Harper told Stuff “the system doesn’t work for everybody”.

Linda Ngata says she was mainly vaccinating European people.

A different approach was needed to engage with Māori, particularly rangatahi (young people). She said heroes should deliver vaccination messages rather than officials.

During the recent lockdown, 51,000 individual whānau came to them needing kai, power, firewood, and internet access.

Organisations like hers were doing the mahi that government agencies should be doing, she said.

An emotional Harper talked about one solo mum whose only kai was what was left over from her children.

“It’s hard not to get frustrated with the system that doesn’t hear our whānau.”

Te Rūnanga o Ngā Maatawaka’s Linda Ngata said Ngā Hau e Whā Marae had so far vaccinated 21,500 people – an average of 250 people a day seven days a week.

“My disappointment is that they are predominantly European, but we will take whoever is through the door.”

Māori had lined up at the very beginning, but the lack of walk-in appointments available left them hōhā (annoyed), so they were trying to coax them back.

They were offering kai, which was always gone by the end of the day, and they provided a free bus to transport east Christchurch whānau to the vaccination centre.

Extended hours were working better for working parents, who were able to bring their anxious rangatahi (young people) in for vaccinations.

Vaccination team leader Renee Noble told Henare they needed more resources to reach Māori and needed to work in the relevant communities.

“I would love there to be a school-based immunisation programme.”

Henare told Stuff many Māori questioned why there was a lack of Māori representation on the podium in Covid announcements, but he said the prime minister was a “fantastic communicator” and he and other Māori colleagues were doing mahi in the background.

He said “whānau are not going to listen to the 1pm” updates, but he believed there was trust in local Māori health providers.