February 20, 2022
Dr Rawiri Taonui Covid Omicron Māori | Vaccination Resistance Risk for Māori
New Cases
• There were 1,901 new community cases yesterday and 14 in MIQ.
• There are 76 people in hospital, none in ICU and no deaths to report.
• There are a total of 12,092 active cases, 11,601 in the community and 491 in MIQ.
Cases by Ethnicity
• Numbers in the Asian community dominated new cases at the beginning of February.
Photo Supplied
• Numbers have now surged in the Pacific peoples community. Pacific peoples have had the highest number of new daily cases for the last nine days with over 4,470.
• Numbers are also surging in the Pākehā community. Pākehā have been the second-highest number of cases for four of the last five days and nearly 2,000 new cases over the last nine days.
• Māori daily cases fell dramatically during December and January. Māori remain the lowest number of new daily cases of the four largest ethnic groups during February.
• Those numbers are steadily rising with over 1,200 new cases over the last nine days.
Total Cases by Ethnicity
• Pacific cases dominated the first stage of the Delta OutBreak in August and September. Total Māori cases passed pacific peoples in early October. With 8,350 cases in what is now an Omicron OutBreak, Pacific peoples passed Māori last week and now again have the largest number of cases.
• Māori totals reflect the very high numbers we had between late September and the end of November and the remarkable turnaround in the fastest declining number of cases that occurred over the holiday period.
• The total number of Māori cases as a proportion of all cases has dropped from nearly 50% in late November to less than 30%.
• Active Māori cases are the lowest of the four largest ethnic groups. Māori remain the highest number of hospitalisations and deaths.
Photo Supplied
Cases by DHB
• There are over 5,000 cases in the Manukau DHB.
• 70% of all cases are in the three Auckland DHBs.
• 80% of all active cases are in the three Auckland DHBs and the Waikato DHB.
Photo Supplied
• Numbers are rising in the Northland, the Bay of Plenty, the Lakes, Taranaki, Whanganui, Hawkes Bay, and Te Tai Rāwhiti DHBs.
• Alongside the Manukau and Waikato DHBs, these are the lowest vaccinated Māori regions.
Māori Vaccinations by DHB
• The Ministry of Health reports that 16 DHBs have Māori vaccination rates over 90%.
• However, when compared to the latest NZ Statistics December 2021 population, their 2020 database is significantly undercounting the Māori population by up to 90,000.
• The following is based on a more conservative 45,000 estimate of the undercount.
• There are three DHBs with total vaccinations over 90%. Northland the Bay of Plenty have the lowest rates.
• 13 DHBs have Māori full vaccinations over 80%. Several of our most at risk DHBs remain below 80%.
Photo Supplied
Vaccination Risk for Māori
• The numbers above suggest that the vaccination effort has run into firm resistance in the last 10% to 20% of Māori by DHB.
• As Omicron builds, the largest risks lie in high Māori demographic, high impoverishment, and remote areas.
Home Isolation Risk for Māori
• Home isolation is a major risk for Māori. In the urban centres, the sheer number of Māori cases will shape the risk meaning some whānau may not receive vital support. In rural areas, the risk lies with living at distance from medical care.
Noho haumaru
Dr Rawiri Taonui