April 04, 2022
Lower Māori vax rates showing up in hospitalisations
The number of new Covid cases reported yesterday dropped below 10,000 for the first time in weeks – but a Māori researcher warns that the risk for Māori is still high because of lower vaccination rates.
There were 8841 cases reported yesterday – in line with a trend of lower numbers reported at weekends – and 20 deaths.
Rawiri Taonui says that during the Omicron wave, Māori have made up about 25 per cent of new cases and between 30 and 40 per cent of unvaccinated hospitalisations.
There’s a risk that will translate into more Māori deaths, with Māori already making up 60 per cent of Covid deaths among those under 60 years old,
“The effort over the last three months has been about supporting whanau at home, and the rate of Māori vaccinations has dropped off quite a lot, so some days in the figures I see, there may be only one vaccination in a DHB area that is Māori,” Dr Taonui says.
He expects the Omicron wave will take several more weeks to subside.