February 08, 2022
Parents need good data on vaccine choice
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says it’s whānau who need information that will help them get their tamariki vaccinated.
The Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency is complaining the Health Ministry is slow to release data on 5 to 11 years olds that whānau ora providers need to effectively target vaccination campaigns.
Currently tamariki Māori are getting their shots at half the rate of non-Māori.
Ms Ardern says different data may be held on individual children than is held for adults.
“They’re working carefully through what as you can imagine are sensitive issues around the privacy of children. Our job though is to make sure we are supporting whānau to make decisions when it comes to giving consent for children to be vaccinated because ultimately it is their call, no one else’s,” she says.