Covid 19 coronavirus: One in seven Taranaki jabs by small Māori teams

Wilson and Jean Graham hope to visit family in Australia after their Covid jabs Photo / Craig Ashworth

Two Māori health providers have injected one seventh of the Covid-19 jabs in Taranaki as the region languishes at the bottom of the immunisation table.

As of last Tuesday, Taranaki had the lowest rate of vaccinations at 8.26 percent, less than half the national average.

Taranaki DHB said it was ahead of its targets and hadn't wanted to over-promise with higher targets.

By Saturday 10,708 shots had been delivered in the region and the relatively small providers Ngāti Ruanui Healthcare and Tui Ora had given 1460 of those injections.

Many of the two providers' clients were non-Māori: across Taranaki 1196 people identifying as Māori have had jabs, including at the DHB hubs.

The general manager of Ngāti Ruanui's health and social services wing, Graham Young, said it had begun vaccinations on May 5 to make an early impact.

"We wanted to make sure we were first off the block in offering especially Māori and Ngāti Ruanui descendants the vaccine as soon as possible."

"The danger is you can spend a lot of time planning, but you've got to get the doing going – our philosophy was let's get moving."

Ngāti Ruanui Healthcare had started immunising the over-65s with health vulnerabilities at the same time as immunising its own frontline staff.

It had now delivered 800 shots in Hāwera and Pātea, including to one-third of the over-65s enrolled in its medical service.

Meanwhile in New Plymouth Tui Ora focused on its staff, their close families and other frontline workers with almost 400 shots.

Last week it delivered another 263 in its first week open to the Government's group two patients, such as Māori and Pacific people 65 or older and their household.

Tui Ora's immunisation programme manager Michelle Ogle-Atkins said after two weeks in New Plymouth the team would spend a week in Waitara and a week in Ōpunakē.

"We're going out to those communities because they are higher Māori populations with transport barriers getting in to the centralised hubs, so we made the commitment to Waitara and Ōpunakē."

As the vaccine rollout continues, Tui Ora planned to go further and hold clinics at marae and other community sites.

Taranaki DHB in contrast had vaccination hubs at New Plymouth and Hāwera hospitals, with mobile clinics only for rest homes so far.

Covid controllers: Robyn Taylor and Michelle Ogle-Atkins at Tui Ora. Photo / Craig Ashworth

Tui Ora's Covid immunisation clinical lead Robyn Taylor said their main strength was patient trust.

"They know they can trust us and that's huge. When they're coming in for a vaccine and some of them are a little bit, 'oh it's so new and do they really know,' but when they're reassured by people they trust it's a huge thing."

Ogle-Atkins said Tui Ora was using nurses and social workers already known by whānau.

"So when they're being called up it's not so daunting, and they know who they're coming to, they often know who's coming to pick them up and they're walking in to friendly faces."

"Staff that will focus out in Waitara are all living out in Waitara now, and are from Waitara."

Ngāti Ruanui Healthcare's senior nurse Parewaho Rudolph agreed trust was key from when the team makes the first phone call.

"A lot of them are known to the people we contact, from the girls that make the phone calls right through to the receptionist, through to the vaccinator, through to the observer."

Wilson Graham suffered a cardiac arrest two weeks ago, after a heart bypass operation 18 months ago.

With Taranaki iwi relatives working at Tui Ora, the 76-year-old had no hesitation when invited for a jab with his wife Jean.

"I've got plenty of whanau e mahi ana i konei, it helps make it easier to come forward."

He said being vaccinated will make it safer to visit children and mokopuna in Australia.

Ogle-Atkins said because some people were reluctant to visit doctors, the vaccination centre was set up in more homely rooms in Tui Ora's office building, rather than the medical centre.

Instead of security guards the site was overseen by Māori wardens, again to create a welcoming atmosphere.

Tui Ora was also working with Taranaki, Te Ātiawa and Ngāruahine iwi as well as social agency Tu Tama Wahine, often organising transport and other help to get people vaccinated.

Ngāruahine Iwi Health Services business manager Warren Nicholls says the organisation was too small to set up its own vaccination clinic, so instead could book injections with Tui Ora or Ngāti Ruanui, as well as the DHB.

"We're working in a true partnership where we have access to appointment schedules to book people in."

"We can block book if we want to run a van for a day and get people in."

Nicholls said Ngāruahine Health Services was also lending workers to the vaccination centres.

He said trusted iwi, hapū and whānau leaders were sending clear and accurate information to counter falsehoods and scaremongering about the vaccine.

"Initially there was considerable hesitance but I think that's easing."