Māori providers race to vax whānau as omicron approaches

Tuesday, 25 January 2022

Māori health providers have put their foot on the accelerator as they race to get whānau vaccinated and to the booster stage, while omicron poses a new threat to vulnerable communities.

This week has seen Māori provider Te Kōhao Health run a 7-day marae vaccination event, aimed at encouraging whānau and 5-11 year olds to receive their doses of the vaccine.

Te Kōhao Health managing director, Lady Tureiti Moxon said they were making “a big push” to get whānau through their doors.

She said there was further urgency to get whānau vaccinated due to the new variant arriving into the community.

“We haven’t stopped working, we’re still working 7 days a week.

“We’re focusing on vaccinating the whole of the whānau including our 5-11 year old’s alongside adults.

“Now that we’ve got omicron in the community there certainly is a more urgent need for us to be available and ready.”

**READ MORE:

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* Covid-19: Big vaccine drive in Northland aims to lift NZ's lowest jab rate

* 'We can't give up': Māori health leader optimistic about reaching 90 per cent vaccination target

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Māori were disproportionately affected by the initial age band approach to the vaccination roll-out due to life-expectancy being shorter and the age demographic being younger compared to non-Māori.

Registered nurse Kristine Schaare was one of the vaccinators on-site and said they had seen more kaumātua pass through than the younger population.

She said the initial vaccine roll-out “probably did have an impact” on those that are receiving their third dose now.

Moxon said they were needing to work extra hard to get people vaccinated but were optimistic that making the vaccine readily available to whānau would pay off.

“We are keeping our doors open so that people at anytime can come.

“The best protection that we can give ourselves, is to be vaccinated,” she said.

Jenny and Bryan Clausen, both in their late 70s and grandparents to 14 grandchildren, came to get their third vaccine to follow health recommendations.

“We came here for our booster, and we had our first two inoculations here as well.

“We recommend it to everybody else, everyone is so lovely,” Jenny said.

And amongst the upbeat tunes playing on the stereo, coloured balloons and streamers was mum Taami (40), dad Tipene (37) and brothers Jessie (12) and Dre (8), a whānau of four who were all getting their first dose.

They had been apprehensive about receiving the vaccine but because they knew someone at the centre, they came along to get vaccinated so that their children wouldn’t miss out on school activities.

“I don’t feel like we should be forced into it to be fair, but it’s for our kids to be able to go on their trips …and for us to go with them and support them.

“I’m going to do it with our boys today,” Taami said.

“I’m excited!” said Jessie.

The Te Kōhao health vaccination centre willing be running 10am-4pm until Sunday.