October 26, 2021
Multiple strategies needed to get Māori vaxed
Te Whānau o Waipareira is stepping up its mobile vaccination efforts in six west Auckland suburbs with the lowest uptake by Māori for first vaccinations.
Social impact director Awerangi Tamihere says Henderson, Massey, Rānui, Glen Eden, New Lynn and Te Atatū Peninsula are also the suburbs with the greatest shift over the past three weeks, with between 64 percent and 70 percent of Māori now having had their first dose.
Since March Whānau Ora partners in Tāmaki Makaurau have delivered more than a quarter of a million vaccinations, including 112,000 by Waipareira.
Ms Tamihere says an increase in resourcing since the start of the Delta outbreak means Māori providers are finally getting to try the approaches they have been calling for since the start of the programme.
“There is not one way to vaccinate our people. They all have very different reasons and different thinking as to why they want to get vaccinated, why they are hesitant to get vaccinated and so you must have multiple different strategies in your toolbox to access them, work with them to ensure our uptake of vaccination increases,” she says.