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October 14, 2021
Māori vax numbers key to lifting restrictions
Adam Gifford
Posted On October 14, 2021
Download AudioHealth Minister Andrew Little says low Māori vaccination rates are a significant factor in the Government’s approach to lockdowns.
He concedes the early stages of the vaccination rollout were about some of the easier to reach groups, on the understanding the hard work would come later with groups like rural and isolated communities.
“The reality is, however, we know that because the level of vaccination for Māori has been so low, that’s the reason we don’t want to lower the restrictions any further than they are at the moment because once you do that, people will start moving around and the risk is heightened and actually this virus, it will seek out the unvaccinated, and while we have a number of Māori unvaccinated, we can’t in good conscience relax those restrictions,” Mr Little says.
Andrew Little says he’s impressed with the leadership and innovative approaches Māori are now taking to get their communities vaccinated.
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