The dissemination of information in a multitude of languages and the use of platforms that are relevant to different population groups was front of mind as we started to get the message out.
It was also key that we were funding community vaccination events that accounted for different cultural contexts, to remove as many barriers to getting vaccinated as we could.
The ministry’s approach was to focus on supporting community organisations who know their population groups best.
Asian Health Services ran a tele-health service in 90 different languages, seven days a week across the motu.
They also operated a one-to-one outreach service, organised vaccination events and engaged directly with senior citizens to explain what support was available to them and how they could access it.
Many of our African communities were supported to better understand the Covid-19 vaccine through community hui, including sessions hosted by the ministry and with doctors from our Kiwi African communities.
The support also carried through into the transport that was organised to help get the community to vaccination clinics.
Muskaan Care Trust was out and about with their ‘vaccination van’ and also online via Facebook Live events, getting the information out to communities far and wide.
They also took the opportunity when reaching people within the community to offer other health checks and distribute rapid antigen tests (RATs) and masks to support the wider Covid response.
Our pharmacies liaised with ethnic community organisations to hold family vaccination events for different ethnic groups. Our ethnic young people also ran creative and fun events, encouraging other youth to come along in groups and get vaccinated.
These are just some examples of the work carried out by the 78 different organisations that were supported by the Covid Vaccine Uptake Fund to provide support on the ground for our ethnic populations all over the country.
From shopping centres to carparks, community centres to TikTok – our community groups have been where the people are, and used languages and channels relevant to them to get information across and organise events that actually delivered results.
There were also individuals like 100-year-old Tang Yu-Shiun, who fronted educational videos in Mandarin about Covid-19 and the vaccination programme that were shared via channels like WeChat and accessed by many.
When I visited many of these organisations over the past year, they talked about the importance of communities leading these initiatives because they’re the ones with the knowledge of how best to reach their own people.
Many of them also spoke to me about the importance of creating videos with reliable information in different languages and seeing people who looked and sounded like themselves on various platforms across Aotearoa – it made our communities feel seen, heard and valued.
It’s likely that there are other reasons that contributed to the high vaccination rates amongst ethnic communities. Many from ethnic communities work in the health system and understand the importance of vaccines, many whakapapa to countries that have experienced respiratory illnesses like Sars previously, and many have family in parts of the world that were badly affected by Covid-19 and had higher death tolls that we did in New Zealand.
It is also true that the hard work of community organisations has contributed to the high vaccination rates among Kiwis from ethnic communities.
Feedback I’ve received indicates that the ministry also played an instrumental role in the increased awareness of and access to vaccinations. The ministry’s goal was to empower ethnic communities to lead their own local information drives and vaccine uptake events and to support them to be able to do this.
The approach was by the community, for the community – and it has been worthwhile. I believe strongly that communities hold the key to their people, and that the Government’s role is to support them to be able to lead.
By empowering community groups to design and implement their initiatives based on their knowledge of their communities, the Ethnic Communities Covid Vaccine Uptake Fund enabled the system to reach people that it would have otherwise struggled to reach.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequities and shone the spotlight on them. It is now up to us to collectively ensure that we engage with those who have been excluded to date and work on strengthening our health and other systems to be able to respond to their needs and aspirations.
What we’ve learned in the health response is valuable and can be applied across a range of Government policies and services. In fact, ensuring Government services are provided equitably and in ways that are accessible for ethnic communities is one of the key priorities of the Ministry for Ethnic Communities.
The challenge doesn’t stop here, but it is a time to reflect on what has been such a success for our ethnic communities, and to use those lessons to ensure that all Government services are equitable and able to respond to the needs and aspirations of the communities we collectively serve.
- Priyanca Radhakrishnan is the Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities.
