November 17, 2021
Flavell haka on kapa Covid
Former Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell says anti-vax views from some Rotorua kapa haka, kura and kōhanga reo leaders are putting the whole community at risk.
Covid 19 has arrived in Rotorua and Taupō, but the Lakes District Health board area is only at 85 percent first dose and 74 percent fully vaccinated.
Mr Flavell says now it’s there, the disease will spread among the most vulnerable, and especially Māori.
He’s heard a lot of reasons people won’t get vaccinated, none of which have any factual or scientific basis.
“People talk about rights. Every day government makes rules about our rights and makes people do things they don’t want to, like pay tax, so the arguments about those sorts of things does not stack up. We’ve got to start calling that stuff out rather than say we’ll leave it to the individual. There’s too much at stake here, particularly with pākeke and our tamariki,” Mr Flavell says.
He’s concerned if the virus gets into the close-knit communities around kura and kōhanga reo it will spread quickly.