Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare says Māori health providers will be encouraged to take a whole whānau approach when administering the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Government yesterday unveiled how it intends to roll out the vaccine over the next few months.

The package includes $39 million for the Māori response, with $24.5 million for Māori health providers to engage and prepare their communities for the vaccination programme, and $11 million to build provider infrastructure and workforce capability.

Because elderly Māori and Pacific peoples are more likely to live with whānau than in an aged care facility, 40,000 vaccine courses will be allocated to Māori and Pacific health providers to target vaccinations within their communities.

"We know that nanny generally doesn't live on her own so if you go in to vaccinate nanny you also must look at the whānau and the risk factors in that whānau and how can we vaccinate them as well," he says.

The Government is also recognising the special circumstances of South Auckland, where there are a high number of border and managed isolation and quarantine facilities, by pushing the area up the queue.

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