The Government is opting against a snap lockdown for Christchurch - even if more cases emerge in the city, PM Jacinda Ardern says. The decision to remain at alert level 2 was consistent with other responses when there is a strong knowledge of the history of the new Covid community cases.
The 90 per cent target for double doses should be hit around mid-December in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board region.
This comes as Bay of Plenty iwi calls on Māori to get vaccinated - and health providers say the focus needs to be on young people to reach this target.
About 77,000 Bay of Plenty residents needed to be vaccinated to reach the 90 per cent fully vaccinated target, which included about 18,000 first doses.
The board's Covid programme operations manager Brent Gilbert de Rios said the board was "closely monitoring" the first and second dose vaccine uptake in the region and doing everything it could to meet the 90 per cent target "as soon as possible".
"We all want to enjoy everything summer in the Bay has to offer."
Modelling predicts the 90 per cent target for first doses will be reached before the end of November.
Te Puna Ora o Mataatua Charitable Trust is looking at spending two weeks in Murupara to increase vaccination rates. Photo / Supplied
The DHB was focused on giving those who had not been vaccinated "a range of opportunities" to get the vaccine before Christmas, Gilbert de Rios said.
"We're working with community centres, marae, Māori and iwi hauora providers, pharmacies, GPs and shopping malls to provide the vaccine in as many places and as many ways as possible."
Gilbert de Rios said the vaccine rollout was a community effort and everyone had a role to play.
"If you haven't already had your vaccine, or you know someone who hasn't, please seek trusted information about the protection the vaccine offers us," he said.
"Think of your whānau and how we can protect our community from Covid-19."
Yesterday the Māori Health Rūnanga which partners the board of the Bay of Plenty DHB, Te Rūnanga Hauora Māori o te Moana a Toi, released an appeal to all descendants of Toi to get vaccinated.
Toi was a pioneering ocean voyager who was one of the first to land at Whakatāne and establish a settlement there.
Māori Health Rūnanga chairperson Linda Steel. Photo / Supplied
Māori Health Rūnanga chairperson Linda Steel and deputy chairperson Kipouaka Pukekura hoped Tikanga Hou would provide a "powerful call to action" for whānau who are yet to receive their first shot and those who needed to get their second.
"We need all our whānau to be rowing this waka together. Now is the time to heed the karanga and come together to protect and nurture each other," Steel said.
Forty-three per cent of Māori living in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board are fully vaccinated and 63 per cent have had their first dose. This is according to data published by the Ministry of Health on October 27.
"We want Te Tini o Toi (the many descendants of Toi) to be safe this summer, and that means having important kōrero with all whānau to make sure no one gets left behind," she said.
Te Puna Ora o Mataatua Charitable Trust chief operating officer Lee Colquhoun speaking to Jacinda Ardern in Murupara earlier this month. Photo / Supplied
Te Puna Ora o Mataatua Charitable Trust chief operating officer Lee Colquhoun said to reach the 90 per cent target the focus needed to be on young people.
Six months ago there was "massive marketing" to get over-65s Maori vaccinated, he said. "But we have done nothing around youth," he said.
"Basically, the model has been 'they'll just get it done'…. It's not going to be that easy."
Colquhoun said everyone was "very Covid-fatigued" and people did not want to see "big ministry updates".
"They want to see local influencers both youth and people they trust – short, sharp videos that basically tell them the information they need.
"[Youth are] looking for social media and platforms that don't have credible sources... they're looking at Tiktok, Facebook... so if you want to get in touch with them we've got to change our marketing plan and concept to align with that."
The trust was looking at taking its mobile vaccination clinic to Murupara for two weeks and going back two weeks later to do the second dose.
Kuka said there needed to be "a huge push and a concentration on our Māori population" in order to reach them.
"I don't think [the] majority of our people respond so much to the big pop-ups, to super clinics, even with the enticements of food and giveaway prizes and hāngī," she said.
"I think it is the grind for us as Māori providers. It's going out to the households and influencing and knocking on those doors and going to different communities - that's the only way we're going to be pushing that over the line."
In response to Kuka's comments, Gilbert de Rios said it was working with a range of Māori and iwi hauora providers and collaborating on initiatives that best encourage their communities to get vaccinated.
This included door knocking and mobile vaccination teams heading to rural areas and connecting with whānau that experience multiple barriers to accessing good health care, he said.
"Whatever it takes, we're doing our best to create as many vaccination opportunities as possible to ensure everyone in the Bay has the chance to get vaccinated."
University of Canterbury's Professor Michael Plank, an expert in modelling complex biological and social systems, said achieving these targets was "certainly possible" provided people had good access to the vaccine and to "quality information" from trusted sources.
Plank said some issues with reaching the 90 per cent target included a lack of access to the vaccine - for example, where it was difficult for people to get time off work or needing to travel to a vaccination centre.
"Because of the interval between doses, it will take a minimum of three weeks from when each DHB reaches 90 per cent first dose to get to 90 per cent fully vaccinated."
The Ministry of Health was approached for a response to comments made by Lee Colquhoun.
