The 90% Project: Far North marae 'stepping up' to encourage vaccination

Getting ready for today's vaccination drive at Tuhirangi Marae in Waima are, from left, Clayton Kiwa, Paul Kiwa, Iri Kiwa, Ipu Absolum, Ngaire Griffin, Rameka Wharerau and Haydon Ngakuru.

Far North marae are ''stepping up'' and encouraging their people to get vaccinated as the Covid virus threatens to spread to every corner of the region.

Spearheading the effort in Waimā is 79-year-old kuia Ipu Absolum, who's organising a vaccination event at Tuhirangi Marae today. Waimā, in South Hokianga, currently has Northland's lowest jab rate with 67 per cent single-dosed and 50 per cent fully vaxxed.

Absolum said the low vaccination rate reflected a long-standing distrust of authority, which dated back to the dog tax rebellion of 1898 and beyond.

''I think people don't have much trust at all because the government's record in Hokianga isn't good. There's been a struggle ever since the dog tax conflict. It's about distrust and fear — but it's time for us to step up, to pick ourselves up and move on.''

The push comes as 83 per cent of Northland's eligible population have had their first vaccine and 73 per cent have received both doses.

There were three cases in Northland yesterday. One is a close contact in Kaitaia, one is a close contact in Whangārei with a clear link to an Auckland case, and one is in Waipū with Public Health interviews under way yesterday to establish a link.

That takes Northland's total cases from the Delta outbreak to 58 (24 of whom have recovered) with one case currently in Whangārei Hospital.

A pop-up testing centre will be set up at Ruakākā racecourse today to increase testing capacity in the area, in response to the Waipū case.

The centre will be open from 9am-2pm today and Monday. Further testing locations in Northland can be found on the Northland DHB website.

A new Northland location of interest has been added to the Ministry of Health's website:
Caltex Dargaville, Monday, November 15, from 7am-11am. If you were at the site between those hours you should self-monitor for Covid-19 symptoms for 10 days after you were exposed at this location of interest. If symptoms develop, get a test and stay at home until you get a negative test result and until 24 hours after symptoms resolve.

The aim of today's event at Tuhirangi Marae, on State Highway 12 next to Waimā School, was two-fold, Absolum said.

The first was to increase vaccination rates in the Taheke, Ōmanaia, Waimā and Ōtaua valleys.

It was a ''by Māori, for Māori'' initiative with Kaikohe-based health provider Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi working with the marae to deliver the vaccine.

Medical professionals would be on hand to answer any questions.

The second aim was to come up with a Covid response plan in case of a local outbreak.

''We will identify our resources and see if people in our community can be trained to be testers. We have no concern about isolating — we can sort that out ourselves — but our hospital is small and patients will have to be transferred to Whangārei. And if Whangārei is overwhelmed, what then?''

Food security was another issue that would be discussed.

During lockdown about 50 families were supported with food deliveries in an initiative led ''by a couple of kuia''.

Four gardens had been planted and were now full of kai, boosting self-sufficiency and reducing reliance on food delivered over long distances.

''Supporting vulnerable people is part and parcel of the Covid response.''

Those who were opposed to vaccination also needed to come up with a plan to protect themselves if the virus reached Waimā, Absolum said.

Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi chief executive Te Ropu Poa said she was optimistic Māori vaccination rates in the Far North would keep climbing, especially with marae taking it upon themselves to encourage uptake.

Kuia Ipu Absolum was a great example of someone leading the way in her community and providing information to whānau.

Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi chief executive Te Ropu Poa is confident Māori vaccination rates in the Far North will keep climbing.

''Māori are stepping up to encourage one another to protect themselves and each other.''

When trusted community leaders led the charge, Māori were able to have more meaningful and engaging conversations about vaccination.

''They [the Government] thought everyone would just follow suit and get vaccinated but when people started to think about things and ask questions there was never any forum they could discuss these or get a response,'' Poa said.

''Smaller communities are built on trust. They respond to and build relationships with leaders who are truly part of their community.''

However, it worked both ways when it came to vaccination.

Poa said community leaders had to counter-balance negative views expressed by people such as church leaders with positive messaging about vaccination.

''We have to have that balance between the people they look up to. Everyone has different values and influences.''

One of the drivers of increasing vaccination rates was the prospect of ongoing restrictions.

''Everyone is sick of their lives right now, having no opportunity to do what they want when they want. Whānau want their life back.''

Some marae had even told whānau they would be unable to attend tangihanga on their grounds unless they were vaccinated.

''It's because a lot of our positives [cases] have come out of tangihanga. They're looking out for one another by doing this,'' she said.

■ The so-called Dog Tax War of 1898 was triggered when the government imposed an annual "dog tax" of 2 shillings 6 pence per dog. Māori, who had little involvement with the cash economy at that time and owned many dogs, especially for hunting, saw the tax as discriminatory. Waimā Māori refused to pay and, after reports that armed Māori had visited Rawene, Premier Richard Seddon sent troops and a gunboat from Auckland. A planned ambush of the advancing soldiers was called off at the last minute and bloodshed was averted. Distrust of government, however, lingers to this day.