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December 13, 2021
Challenge to fishing covid vax roll out
Adam Gifford
Posted On December 13, 2021
Download AudioThe Waitangi Tribunal has gone away to consider a week of evidence and argument about the crown’s Covid response.
Claimants hope it will come back to a recommendation it hands over the resources to Māori providers to need to keep their people safe.
Roimata Smail, a lawyer for the National Urban Māori Authority, says despite the billions of dollars spent on getting the country through the pandemic, only a tiny amount is going towards the Māori effort.
That’s despite providers demonstrating their effectiveness at testing and vaccinating.
“I suppose we are talking about, in terms of a partnership, that sometimes partnership means recognising the autonomy of your partner. Your partner on the front line may know better what to do and maybe you should get out of the way and trust them to do what they know how to do,” Ms Small says.
She says Māori providers have done a great job vaccinating every other group, but when they try to get resources to target their own people they are denied.
The Health Ministry says 75 per cent of eligible Māori are now fully immunised against Covid-19.
Māori first dose figures are up to 86 per cent.
Overall 94 per cent of New Zealanders have received first doses and 89 per cent are fully vaccinated.
There were 103 new community cases yesterday, including 86 in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Other cases were in Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Lakes, Canterbury, Taranaki and Nelson-Tasman.
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