Rangatahi vaccine campaign to launch as Govt feels sting of low Māori vaccination rates

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

TikTok user Sam Sakaria shares his thoughts on the conflicting kōrero about the taking the Covid-19 vaccine in New Zealand.

Young Māori, or rangatahi, are lagging behind every other population age band when it comes to getting the Covid-19 vaccination, Government data reveals, despite Māori generally being identified as most at risk from the virus.

Under-30s make up more than 56 per cent of the Māori population, according to Health Service User population statistics. Ministry of Health figures released on Wednesday, show 298,008 Māori or 52 per cent, said Health Minister Chris Hipkins, have received their first vaccination. But just a quarter of those are rangatahi, under 30 years old.

“A lot of rangatahi are influenced by anti-vaxxers,” says Tauawhi Bonilla who, alongside Maioha Panapa, is spearheading an online campaign, Ngāti Rangatahi, aimed at helping young Māori make informed decisions about the vaccine.

“We’re not trying to force them, we’re pro-choice. From a political standpoint the messaging isn’t, so we're trying to reframe that.”

Tauawhi Bonilla is urging rangatahi Māori to take up the chance to vaccinate against Covid-19.

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The Government is constantly being questioned over its vaccine roll-out generally, and low rates for Māori, particularly its large under-30s population. A quick switch to content made for rangatahi, by rangatahi needed to happen, Bonilla explained.

“We had to assemble some sort of ‘Avengers’. We're just trying to fix it up because there’s a lot of pressure on Cabinet to increase vaccinations.”

Indigenous data researcher Andrew Sporle has been modelling the effects of Covid-19 on Māori since 2019.

The five pou (posts) identified as the key barriers facing rangatahi were a lack of understanding of the vaccine’s safety, what the lockdowns are achieving, the perceived dangers of the Delta variant, online inaccessibility to messaging, and misinformation from anti-vaxxers – particularly those from overseas.

The Ngāti Rangatahi game plan will be presented to Associate Health Minister (Māori Health) Peeni Henare and Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson on Friday, ahead of its official launch at a mass vaccination event at Hopuhopu Sports Grounds in Ngāruawāhia on Saturday.

Bonilla said it was the perfect place to launch Ngāti Rangatahi, with the vaccination event – supported by Waikato Tainui, Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Hiringa Hauora with Ministry of Health funding – an opportunity to capture more content for the campaign.

Data researcher Dr Rawiri Taonui says Māori vaccination rates are increasing thanks to iwi providers.

Ngāti Rangatahi will be across all popular social media platforms using content creators to spread correct information about the vaccine through skits and emotionally engaging videos, Bonilla said.

It’s all about protecting whakapapa, he said.

The reality of vaccination rates are worse than the data suggests, indigenous statistics expert Associate Professor Andrew Sporle said.

The Health Service User (HSU) population the Government uses to count those who have been vaccinated only includes people who have engaged with healthcare in the past year. All those who have not, aren’t included in the data. It’s a significant difference.

Sporle said those who haven’t been counted are typically from the same populations the roll-out needed to target such as Māori and Pasifika people.

“So the vaccination rate, as published, is very likely to be an over-estimate of the proportion of those populations who have been vaccinated,” said Sporle.

According to health researcher Dr Rawiri Taonui, just 47 per cent of Māori have been vaccinated, not the 52 per cent announced by Minister Hipkins.

Dr Sue Crengle says rangatahi Māori need palatable, reliable information to make their vaccination decisions.

He’s taking into account the shortcomings of the HSU, which equates to around 4 per cent of the general population. Pākehā are fairly accurately represented in HSU data, but not Māori or Pasifika, Taonui said.

Vaccination rates for Māori aged 20-34, north of Manawatū, were between 40-50 per cent of the national uptake, with lower North Island and the South Island vaccinating at a rate of 50-60 per cent respectively.

“It's way under. We’ve got a much larger population in that age group which makes us very vulnerable,” said Taonui.

Director-general of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield was used in a video for summer festivals after he became a pop culture sensation.

In Tāmaki Makaurau, rangatahi Māori make up 14.5 per cent of the general population but only 8 per cent had their first dose of the vaccine. They’re also 47 per cent less likely to have their first jab compared to Europeans others under 30 years old, according to National Health Users data.

However, Taonui said there had been improvements as Māori health providers mobilised, with vaccination rates relative to the national uptakes increasing from 52 per cent in August to 65 per cent last week.

Dr Sue Crengle, co-leader of the National Māori Pandemic Group Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā, said increasing rangatahi uptake was all about palatable messaging and vaccine accessibility.

Tai Webster's Breakers contract was broken due to his vaccination decision.

She said what had been distributed wasn't connecting with some younger generations, which had left gaps for misinformation and disinformation to take hold.

Official information on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok had attempted to capture users of the apps, but the reach of the Government’s messages was limited.

Director-general of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield had a large following of young people, shown by the shirts and memes that have been created in his image, but a trust in misinformation remained, Crengle said.

“What are the strategies that these people [sharing misinformation] use that are so effective, and why aren’t we using them?

“It’s got to be something to do with the person themselves and some kind of charisma and appeal that Ashley [Bloomfield] might not have, how they are releasing that information and what media they use.”

Basketball star Tai Webster was recently released from his contract with the New Zealand Breakers because of his Covid-19 vaccination stance.

The club confirmed the 26-year-old was released by “mutual consent” on Monday, ahead of the Australian NBL season as he was unable to fulfil his contract by not taking the vaccine.

Crengle said Webster’s decision could have two outcomes for Māori vaccination rates.

“He’s a high-profile sportsperson in a sport that is followed by lots of Māori, so he could be influencing their decisions but, on the other hand, it also says there are consequences for these choices.”

However, some rangatahi could interpret his release as a way to control the public.

Crengle also said she was “very disappointed” in Prime Minister Jacinda Adern when she urged people over 65 to remain at home until they received their vaccine in Monday’s 4pm press conference.

“If you have not yet been vaccinated please stay at home until you have been. This will give you an extra layer of protection in this outbreak,” Ardern advised.

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While Crengle agreed that alert level 3 posed a higher risk to the 65-plus age group, numerous studies show Māori at 50 years old faced the same health risk as Pākehā 20 years older.

Throughout the pandemic response the increased health risks for Māori have been discussed by health providers, Māori and non-Māori, but yet again those with the highest risk were an afterthought, Crengle said.

“It sits uncomfortably with me. Choosing to continue with a universal approach is a political decision, but very disappointing. It ignores the fact that Māori of younger age groups have the same risk as [older] Pākehā.”