"Probably the most influential are our own whānau. So we've got a duty of care for each other to make sure that our whānau go and get vaccinated.
"This Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus is really difficult to handle and it's dangerous, especially for those who can't be vaccinated - and those who can't be vaccinated are our tamariki, our mokopuna under the age of 12 years old. They will become the most vulnerable."
Rurawhe says the importance of getting double-jabbed is shown by the news that only 3 per cent of those infected in the latest outbreak in Auckland were vaccinated.
"So those who are catching it are the unvaccinated, and that's how it's going to work in the future. If you're not vaccinated you'll have a much higher risk of catching it and that is terrible news for Māori.
"For Whanganui Māori, we're only just over 50 per cent [vaccinated] which is really low, and we need to lift that up to in the 90s. We're talking, in the Whanganui district, of around 6000 or 7000 Māori who are not vaccinated."