August 19, 2021
Maori shy away from marae vaccination
A South Auckland marae says the message on COVID vaccines doesn’t seem to be getting through to Māori – even in what should be ideal settings.
Manurewa Marae resumes vaccinations this morning, after rejigging systems to cope with level four conditions.
Chief executive Natasha Kemp says that means getting people to wait in their cars in the carpark across the road, where a triage team will assess their requirements.
Māori will be given priority during the lockdown because of their low vaccination rates.
The marae has done more than 25,000 vaccinations since April, but only 3000 have been Māori.
“We talk about being in the right setting, providing the right services in the right place at the right time. It’s the right space for our people to come, we have Māori and Pacific kaimahi and it’s accessible and engaging and yet our whānau are still not coming. Some of us are talking about this – what are the strategies we need to do to get our whānau to be vaccinated?” she says.
Natasha Kemp says she is also concerned the national healthline is telling non-Māori they can’t get their vaccinations on marae, when in fact the service is open to all in the community.
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