Ōhope has taken the top spot as the suburb with the highest proportion of fully vaccinated people in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / Andrew Warner
Most of the top 10 most vaccinated suburbs in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board area are in the west, but two in the east have them all beat.
The seaside suburb Ōhope in Whakatāne has the highest percentage of inoculated residents, with 62.1 per cent fully vaccinated and 83 per cent with one dose as of Tuesday, according to new Ministry of Health data.
Cape Runaway, on the East Coast, closely followed, with 61.3 per cent fully vaccinated.
Bethlehem North topped Tauranga with 59.4 per cent fully vaccinated and Ōmokoroa led the Western Bay with 55.7 per cent.
Rural Eastern Bay spot Murupara had the Bay's lowest percentage of fully vaccinated people at 16.1 per cent, with 32.6 per cent having one dose. It was also the lowest in New Zealand, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visiting on Thursday in an effort to promote vaccination.
A health expert says people in suburbs with low vaccination who have had the jab could help by spreading positive messages about the vaccine.
Community leadership and events in those suburbs could also help educate and encourage people to get vaccinated by Christmas.
Te Manu Toroa chief executive Pat Cook said the health provider had been serving areas including Aongatete and Waihi Beach/Bowentown, both of which made it into the top 10, through its mobile clinics in Katikati.
"We've also had our mobile vaccination clinic out in the community since June, going to urban marae, some of the larger local businesses, and supporting other ethnic community groups in their efforts to get their people vaccinated."
With New Zealand's elimination strategy "abandoned", Cook said it was "likely" in the coming months that more people would know someone who had Covid-19 or perhaps even died from Covid-19, which would start shifting people's perspective.
"However, we don't want to see people dying before others decide it's a good idea to take the vaccine.
"Once we're vaccinated, we can get on with our daily lives."
Ray White Ōhope salesman and former Whakatāne mayor Tony Bonne was concerned that areas like Murupara were being "left behind" by higher-income areas like Ōhope.
Bonne said "community leadership" and "community events" would help lift vaccination rates in areas such as Murupara.
"They've got to look at some other method of getting to people rather than just expecting them to go and make an appointment.
"I'm feeling for the economy … the amount of business that is just about ready to collapse … I think people don't realise that."
Murupara Community Board chairwoman Jackie Te Amo said the biggest challenge in the Murupara and Galatea communities was "education around the vaccine".
"People wanting that education prior [to getting the vaccine] – what is it, where did it come from, how is it made, who's involved," she said.
Another challenge was rural communities not having access to the internet.
"What we need to do is make sure we reach into families that don't have any type of internet connections," she said.
"It's just putting out those messages that it's okay to be vaccinated."
Te Amo said Te Puna Ora o Mataatua was an "awesome provider" and was administering vaccinations in Murupara.
"Tūhoe have their own medical centres and they have one in Ruatahuna. So they've been pushing [the vaccine] through there."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Murupara on Thursday to promote vaccination. She was joined by list MP Tāmati Coffey, Associate Minister of Health (Māori Health) Peeni Henare and MP for East Coast Kiri Allan.
University of Otago epidemiologist Michael Baker said the "first principle" for vaccination was accessibility.
This included taking it to people who had transport issues, providing accurate information and administering the vaccine in a culturally appropriate way.
This meant ensuring people felt "welcome" when getting the vaccine, and could relate to those administering the vaccine.
Baker said each community group had leaders or people they respected.
"It's finding those people in the community who are already onside, they've had the vaccine, [and] can actually stand up and say 'I've had the vaccine - it's the right thing to do'."
Accessibility was also about making "high-quality information widely available from people who are trusted".
Asked about the Government advising that people should now have three weeks between doses rather than the earlier recommended six weeks, Baker said: "Everyone in New Zealand should now plan on encountering this virus before Christmas."
"Don't take the chance - and that means [get] double-vaccinated by Christmas."
Another motivator to get vaccinated was gaining access to hospitality businesses and events, he said.
"[People] might not be motivated by fear of the virus, but if it's going to limit the things they like to do because they won't be able to gain entry into certain environments, I think that's going to be a useful incentive."
Ngāti Ranginui Iwi Society chief executive Melanie Te Arai Tata said those who were vaccinated should share their experience and encourage their whānau and friends.
"We as providers are aware of vaccinated populations and their locations. We are working together as providers to ensure there are accessible clinics at key locations," she said.
Bay of Plenty District Health Board Covid-19 incident controller Trevor Richardson said most areas with lower vaccination rates tended to be rural with smaller populations, where access to the vaccine had previously been a barrier.
"We are currently focused on providing a greater range of opportunities for rural and urban areas across the Bay to get vaccinated.
"Convenience and easy access are key," he said.
"We have established a variety of sites around the Bay which are walk-in clinics, in which people do not require appointments.
"These clinics are just one part of a real push over the next 10 weeks, to give the community plenty of opportunities to receive coverage from the vaccine as we head into summer."
Tauranga City Council Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said increasing vaccination rates was the only way to deal with the pandemic.
"Vaccination is safe, easy and free. And it's the best way to protect ourselves, our whānau and our friends from infection and the serious health effects that can bring."
Western Bay of Plenty District could have fewer councillors to vote for next election.