Māori vaccinate to protect their past, present and future
Thursday, 26 August 2021
As vaccination centres ramp up across the country, Māori are being the kaitiaki of their whakapapa by receiving the jab.
Sjahrne Nesbit brought her sons, nephew and daughter-in-law to the Rangitāne drive-through vaccination centre at Tānenuiarangi Marae on Thursday. They were among more than 300 whānau, Māori, Pasifika and other eligible people getting their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Initially she was nervous, but Nesbit took on the challenge of getting the vaccine for herself, her mokopuna and her tīpuna.
“It's about protecting whakapapa, protecting the next generation,” she said.
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“I thought we can create a protection barrier for them within our whānau. I’ve got to role model for the younger ones that it’s okay, it's safe.
“I think back to when we had polio and the influenza and particularly Māori, even my own family, were affected. I just think it’s that situation again.”
Health inequalities that had always existed for Māori and Pasifika were being highlighted again as Covid-19 spread across the country, Danielle Harris said, tumuaki of Tānenuiarangi Manawatū Incorporated.
Māori had twice the infection rate of Pākehā and more severe health outcomes from the 2009 influenza pandemic, which was likely to repeat itself if Covid-19 broke into iwi, a study released by the New Zealand Medical Journal in July showed.
It indicated Māori and Pasifika were at greater risk of hospitalisation from Covid-19 than Pākehā due to poorer access to health care.
They were also more at risk of clinically severe outcomes from the virus. Overcrowded living in multigenerational homes that were low quality was also a factor, as well as lower life expectancies, higher rates of respiratory illnesses and underreporting of underlying medical conditions.
An 80-year-old Pākehā Covid-19 patient had the same risk of hospitalisation as a 59-year-old Māori and 54-year-old Pasifika patient, the study showed.
Director-General of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield reported more than 50 per cent of Covid-19 cases from the recent outbreak were within the Pasifika population.
That made vaccinating whānau a top priority to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and transmission throughout the community, Harris said.
“Whānau are living in homes of eight plus people, so it's easy to pass on to others.”
There were still thousands of Māori to reach across the MidCentral rohe, but Harris hoped as more whānau received their jabs others would feel confident accepting the vaccine.
“A lot of our leaders got vaccinated early on and by doing it we're encouraging our whānau to do the same.
“We look 1000 years ahead. Whakapapa is really important for our iwi and showing it’s okay and safe to get vaccinated.
“It’s your best option, don't be afraid of it, challenge everyone in your whānau to get a vaccination.”
While more than 14,000 Māori and Pasifika had received at least their first dose of the vaccination, Harris said some whānau were still hesitant to receive it due to cultural beliefs.
The body is tapu for Māori, Harris said.
“It’s part of our cultural DNA of who we are. Some of us are very concerned about having things injected into use that are not natural. It's just an extra dimension.
'[But] our people are part of the vulnerable population, so it’s really important we get vaccinated.”