As of March 7, 83.8 per cent of Māori aged 12 and over in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board were fully vaccinated. Photo / George Novak
As of March 7, 83.8 per cent of Māori aged 12 and over in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board were fully vaccinated. Photo / George Novak
Local Māori vaccination rates may take another three months to reach the 90 per cent fully vaccinated target, the Bay of Plenty District Health Board says.
But the boss of a kaupapa Māori health provider believes the 90 per cent target for Māori won't be hit until Omicron case numbersstart to drop.
Meanwhile, Murupara Community Board chairwoman Jackie Te Amo has been in home isolation with Covid this week and believes she would be "far worse" if she wasn't vaccinated.
According to the Ministry of Health, 2976 vaccinations among those who identified as Māori in the board's region were needed to reach the 90 per cent double-vaccinated target as of Monday night.
The board was 982 doses away from reaching the 90 per cent first-dose milestone.
Based on vaccination trends among Māori in the last two months, the board estimated the first-dose 90 per cent target could be achieved around April 12 and double-vaccinated around June 7.
Manukura (leader) of the board's Māori health team, Te Pare ō Toi Marama Tauranga, said Omicron was rapidly spreading within Te Moana a Toi which posed "significant challenges" to whānau and the hospital system.
The board would continue to work with iwi, kaupapa Māori providers, Te Pare ō Toi, the board and Toi Te Ora Covid response teams to focus on protecting whānau by focusing on vaccination, hapori [community] care and whānau planning, Tauranga said.
"We are listening to whānau Māori and continuing to get the resources to them so they can make informed decisions for their oranga [health, welfare], despite the drop in kanohi ki te kanohi [face-to-face] contact."
The board was also keeping whānau updated with information online as many were choosing to stay in their whare, Tauranga said.
As of March 7, 83.8 per cent of Māori aged 12 and older in the board's region were fully vaccinated and 87.9 per cent had received one dose, Ministry of Health data showed.
The Bay of Plenty District Health Board reached the 90 per cent fully vaccinated target overall in January.
Te Puna Ora o Mataatua Charitable Trust chief executive Dr Chris Tooley. Photo / Supplied
Te Puna Ora o Mataatua Charitable Trust chief executive Dr Chris Tooley said the region had initially been on track to hit the 90 per cent double-vaccinated target for Māori by mid-February.
But the Omicron outbreak meant the health workforce was now focused on Covid testing rather than vaccinations.
"Since Omicron has come into the community, we've had to redivert our mobile teams to increase capacity when it comes to swabbing and testing [and] towards distributing and administering RATs to the general public.
"Our vaccination drive was basically offset by the requirements of testing and swabbing because of Omicron and just because our teams aren't out there in the face-to-face contact ... the trendline has dropped away.
"Until our teams can get back out there we're not going to see too much movement unfortunately while we're dealing with this Omicron surge."
This was not unique to the trust but was happening across New Zealand, he said.
Tooley said he would like to have teams still doing mobile vaccinations but there was a finite number of nurses, doctors and vaccinators.
"I have to redeploy them where the highest priority is and at the moment it's Omicron, unfortunately.
"Hopefully once we get through this surge ... then we'll be able to relook at how we're pushing out our workforce and hopefully getting back on track to that 90 per cent."
Before the outbreak, Tooley said the trust had been "making ground" with Māori vaccinations.
"That was because we were going into the townships - mobile teams on the ground talking to whānau in the very intimate [and] private setting and often in one-on-one settings."
On the recent uptake of vaccinations among Māori, Tooley said there had been "a real strong surge" in boosters.
"We've had a few that picked up their second. But unfortunately, [with] those that are still needing their first vaccination, we've gone stagnant and plateaued in regard to that particular part of the population."
Reasons for this included discussions around the vaccination mandates ending and living rurally, he said.
"Their lives aren't affected too much living out in rural isolated townships. The restrictions that our traffic light system brings in, you don't feel them as much as what you would in a kind of urban setting compared to a rural setting."
Murupara Community Board chairwoman Jackie Te Amo. Photo / Supplied
Murupara Community Board chairwoman Jackie Te Amo had been in isolation this week after catching Covid.
She said it was "just like the flu" and got shivers, aches and pains.
"If it wasn't for being vaccinated, I believe I would be far worse than what I am now."
Her experience of getting Covid had made her feel more mindful of who and how many people she associated with.
She asked people to "not look down" on those who had Covid.
In Murupara, Ministry of Health data showed 66.5 per cent of its Māori population was fully vaccinated.
Te Amo said some of the Murupara community did not support getting vaccinated but she hoped her story and case numbers in the Bay of Plenty would help change their mind about it.
Chief executive of kaupapa Maori health service Te Manu Toroa Pat Cook. Photo / Supplied
Chief executive of kaupapa Māori health service Te Manu Toroa, Pat Cook, said it had been busy vaccinating this year but those had mainly been boosters.
"Since the start of March and the full Omicron outbreak, vaccinations for Māori in the Bay of Plenty have slowed to a trickle.
"We're still vaccinating at Tauranga Moana City Clinic on Courtney Rd, and also continuing our mobile vaccination programme, though we're finding there is much more effort and resource required per vaccination."
Cook said Te Manu Toroa had been doing "whatever we can" to encourage Māori vaccination uptake.
