Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Iwi collective's own data system guides rapid response jab rollout

Te Ranga Tupua Rapid Response Operations co-lead Elijah Pue gets a jab outside the fish and chip shop in Raetihi. Photo / Supplied

Te Ranga Tupua iwi collective is using its own Covid-19 data system to guide its 15-week rapid response vaccination rollout.

The iwi collective is sending four government-funded mobile units into vulnerable communities in the Whanganui, South Taranaki, Rangitīkei and Ruapehu regions to drive up vaccination rates among Māori.

Operations co-lead Elijah Pue said the iwi collective's own data system, alongside information from the Ministry of Health, means the units can be sent "exactly to where the people really need us".

Pue said the data includes daily vaccination numbers and is provided by the iwi collective's logistics and procurement lead Chris Kumeroa, who heads a security, emergency and incident management consultancy.

Te Ranga Tupua also receives a weekly update from the Ministry of Health at a mesh block level.

"A mesh block is street by street," Pue said.

"It drills right down into maybe a block of 20 homes or so. That really informs the following week's rollout.

"Where there are low numbers, that's where we're going to target our mobile unit. We don't have the biggest resource to support a full door-to-door campaign but we're definitely doing street by street."

Pue said that's as simple as driving around that area or parking up on the side of the road. But he said the mobile units are also targeting the busiest community locations.

"We're going where our people go and that's the unique thing about these mobile units. During the holiday period, no-one's working, everyone's out and about, people are down at the park and down at the pools and that's where you'll see us as well.

"We're working within all of those nuances and understanding what the data is telling us so that we can really just go exactly to where the people really need us – as opposed to expecting people to come and see us."

Pue said he hopes by the end of the rapid response rollout in mid-March, the mobile units will have made good progress in delivering first and second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and made a start on booster and children's vaccinations. The teams are also considering delivering flu and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccinations later in the rollout.

The four mobile units are being run out of iwi health providers Te Oranganui Trust in Whanganui, Ngā Waihua o Paerangi Trust in the Waimarino, and Te Kōtuku Hauora and Mōkai Pātea Services in Rangitīkei. Tūpoho Iwi and Community Social Services will also deliver welfare services across the region.