A leader of the Māori pandemic response group Te Roopū Whakakaupapa Urutā wants to see new voices used to reach Māori.

Dr Rawiri Jansen says more than 10,000 Māori a week in Tāmaki Makaurau are getting vaccinated, and it’s important to maintain that momentum.

He says the face of the pandemic response has been the Prime Minister and the Director-General of Health standing on the Beehive stage, and he wants to see Māori standing up and talking to the Māori community.

“I think it’s a one size fits all mistake. We’ve seen this mistake many times before and having a single messenger, single message and predictable media, I think we’ve got to move away from that,” Dr Jansen says.

Centres around Tāmaki Makaurau are aiming to vaccinate 220,000 people this week, with a special effort being made at Papakura Marae to vaccinate disabled people.

From tomorrow six vaccination buses will be available to visit Auckland communities that have low vaccination rates or have access issues to current centres.