"We've been able to extend our vaccination teams until mid-April, which allows us to continue our vaccination rollout and slightly pivot to doing a bit of testing.
"We're in active discussions with the DHB and with the government to continue supporting our rollout. So far those conversations have been positive."
The Whanganui District Health Board is reporting nearly 3500 active Covid-19 cases and 400 new daily cases. Te Ranga Tupua said Whanganui had nearly 1500 cases, Rangitīkei nearly 700 and the Ruapehu district more than 200 active cases. No numbers were provided for south Taranaki.
Pue said the initial target for the rapid response rollout was raising Māori vaccination rates in Whanganui and its neighbouring regions to 90 percent.
"That's been achieved in most of the areas. In the Waimarino we're probably 100 vaccinations off hitting 90 percent. In Whanganui it's probably a couple of hundred.
"I said earlier on when we first started the rollout that we might have to say Raetihi, for example, will never hit 90 percent, but I take that back.
"It's absolutely possible and we're nearly there. We just have to keep going.
"We've said to the government: look, if you want 90 percent vaccination for Māori, give us the time. When these sorts of crises hit us, if you just give us a bit of time, we can get there."
Pue said the mobile vaccination response had been "worth its weight in gold" and the dedicated workforce should now be employed as part of the ongoing general health response.
"It's resource-intensive in terms of getting out and about and in terms of staffing but it's absolutely worth it. The whole idea behind this rapid response was resourcing a dedicated Covid vaccination team in addition to what Māori health providers were already doing. It was a way to really hit home and go hard for 15 weeks.
"We have proven to the Crown and, more to the point, to ourselves, I suppose, that a for-Māori by-Māori approach and a purely Kaupapa Māori health and Whānau Ora-driven approach is going to work. And it's needed not just in vaccination but in the way that we deliver health services."
Health services for Māori more generally required a Whānau Ora approach, Pue said.
"That's when we know our people will present and will be comfortable to address some of the challenges that they might be facing.
"The feedback we're getting in our clinics right now is that they love being able to engage with their own iwi organisation or Māori health organisation to receive this vaccination but also to understand how we might be able to assist them or facilitate their own personal growth as a whānau.
"Vaccination's going to be a thing forever, it's not going to go away, and there are other vaccinations like MMR and influenza that we might look at providing, as well as testing.
"But vaccination is one mere part of this rollout – actually it's around engaging with our whānau and assisting them to understand how they can achieve their health goals with our support."
• Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
