Hastings Girls High student Kayleen Aranui, 17, says the Covid vaccine jab administered by RN Chris Tucker was not painful, and Delicia Head lent support. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hastings Girls High student Kayleen Aranui, 17, says the Covid vaccine jab administered by RN Chris Tucker was not painful, and Delicia Head lent support. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke's Bay DHB is encouraging people to get their second vaccine doses, as Wairoa gears up for its second Super Saturday as part of a concerted effort to get 90 per cent of HB residents vaccinated.
Wairoa's Super Saturday is being held at the community centre tomorrow.
It was acollaboration between Te Whare Maire o Tapuwae (TWMOT) Wairoa and Whanau Ora, who developed and led a communication strategy to reach out to the Wairoa community - particularly the rural outlying districts - to get to the 90 per cent vaccination rate.
As of Friday, 77 per cent of people in Wairoa had received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Napier, Hastings and CHB were all sitting at 85 per cent.
TWMOT project manager Reremoana Houkamau said they were part of a bigger collective of the Wairoa Primary Health Provider (Queen Street Practice), the Māori Health Provider Kahungunu Executive (KE), other Community Service Providers, rural marae and the Wairoa District Council.
She said the collective came together to support Wairoa Super Saturday.
"We are now moving to focus on rangatahi, to encourage, support and participate in the campaign for their community and their whānau."
She said TWMOT supported the rollout of vaccination clinics to rural areas, which saw marae promoting and hosting the Kahungunu Executive outreach vaccination clinics to primarily encourage more vaccinations among Māori.
They provided whānau ora care packs, tsunami emergency battery-operated torch-and-radio sets and distributed Wairoa Taiwhenua movie passes to all whānau who got vaccinated.
Each of the five marae – Kahungunu Marae, Takitimu Marae, Pakowhai Marae, Te Reinga Marae and Kurahikakawa Marae - would receive two heat pumps and a designed storage facility.
In addition, each active marae within the Wairoa District would be offered a defibrillator and training to use them.
The campaign was contributing to "building sustainable and resilient communities", she said.
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Hawke's Bay's Pacific Covid-19 health team were also taking on the challenge of vaccinating close to 1000 hard-to-reach members of the region's Pasifika community.
As of Friday 103 per cent of the eligible Pasifika community had received their first dose- the percentage exceeded 100 because the community included RSE workers.
Tukituki MP Anna Lorck and Hastings Flaxmere councillor Peleti Oli met with the frontline Pacific Health Team to celebrate their work in surpassing 100 per cent.
"They've been on the ground planning early, meetings with churches, fellow health and community leaders well before Covid-19 vaccinations came to Hawke's Bay," said Lorck.
"Like many, we've heard how they've faced challenges of resistance or hesitancy when it comes to the vaccine, and that's where their three local Pacific Covid-19 navigators have come in."
She said the navigators were experienced in engaging with people on the phone, and did a lot of community-based church and outreach with information and education sessions.
"So when they're met with hesitancy, they're able to provide factual information."
The team also asks them reasons for hesitancy and provide factual information to ease worries.
While Pasifika community was pulling out all the stops to get its community vaccinated, encouragement to get the jab was also being given by students like Kayleen Aranui.
Aranui, aged 17 and a Year 12 student at Hastings Girls' High, got her first dose on Friday at a clinic at the school centre.
"The rest of my family have got both their doses, and I would like to encourage others to get the jab as well. It saves lives."
