A study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal last September said Māori were 50 per cent more likely to die from Covid-19 than non-Māori.
Experts say a national campaign to inform and promote the vaccine, to support Māori and Pasifika, must be led by Māori and Pasifika.
Managing director of Te Kohao Health (Māori health provider) Lady Tureiti Moxon said Māori health organisations need to be empowered to deliver to their own communities – from rural to urban.
"We need to do a lot more promotion to keep them informed so they know what they're being involved in, especially in terms of attitudes about vaccinations which have been polarised," Moxon said.
"We have witnessed the devastation of what Covid-19 can do throughout the world and we have witnessed the impacts of those that have come into our country with it as well."
Moxon said kaumātua (elderly), who are among the most vulnerable, should be at the front of the line for the vaccine so that there is no repeat of pandemics and epidemics of the past.
In October and December of 1918, the influenza pandemic killed 9000 New Zealanders - 2500 of them Māori.
Another was the Polio epidemic, which reoccurred on and off throughout New Zealand from 1916 to 1960.
It was a disease which typically hit children and adolescents.
"Given the fact a large number of our people die from preventative disease, there is definitely a concern that they will not get the treatment they need when they need it."
Moxon is hopeful the Government intends to establish relationships with iwi so Māori can respond effectively, and to give whānau and iwi the opportunity to make informed decisions.
Chairman of the Pacific Faculty at Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and South Auckland GP Dr Api Talemaitoga said there were many false rumours last year about Covid-19, but once Pacific communities became more informed, they led the way in getting tested.
"We hope to replicate the same information-sharing with the Covid vaccine," he says.
Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, the director of Pacific health at the Ministry of Health, has coordinated a group of Pacific clinicians and key community leaders to help plan and disseminate the information and act as a trusted source that the community can go to.
Associate Minister of Health (Pacific) Hon Aupito William Sio has also been assisting with regular zoom sessions with up to 500 Pasifika church leaders, and information is exchanged with a Pacific clinical expert panel.
Minister of Health Chris Hipkins said the Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan will focus on encouraging vaccine confidence to get "good strong uptake amongst our Māori communities".
"One of the things we're very mindful of is that we need to ensure Māori feel confident in receiving the vaccine."
Talemaitoga said there is an unconscious bias and institutional racism within the country's health system which is a setback for Pasifika communities.
"The lack of response to 2019's measles epidemic is a prime example," Talemaitoga said.
"In the early stages of the coronavirus in New Zealand, a few Pasifika clinicians decided to take matters into their own hands and assist the health system in responding to the needs of their communities.
"We understand that the 'one size fits all' of the health system has never worked for our Pacific communities and we need to have discussions about changing 'Models of Care' in action."
While there are many non-Pacific providers who are "fantastic" at serving Pacific communities, Talemaitoga said this is a time to partner with Pasifika health workers to deliver a culturally appropriate service.
"Delivering the messaging in a culturally appropriate way and in the Pacific languages goes a great way towards allaying fears and improving reassurance for Pacific peoples.
"The last health workforce NZ Pacific plan was over 10 years ago. The Government needs to urgently relook at this and fund it if it is at all serious about reducing the inequities that will continue without a trained and skilled Pacific Health workforce."
