A Facebook post by social media influencer Nicola Adams was linked by health authorities to the nation-wide drop in childhood vaccination among Maori. Photo / Supplied
A Facebook post by social media influencer Nicola Adams was linked by health authorities to the nation-wide drop in childhood vaccination among Maori. Photo / Supplied
Social media influencer Nicola "Nix" Adams has become a poster child for Covid-19 vaccination even as health authorities link a viral video about the death of her son to plummeting child immunisation rates among Māori.
Adams has emerged as one of the chosen faces of Te Puni Kokiri'scampaign to increase the number of Māori receiving the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of a mass vaccination event.
She appeared last month in a video for Te Puni Kokiri's Karawhiua (Give it heaps) campaign, which aims to address Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among Māori communities.
It follows surveys in New Zealand showing greater levels of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among Māori and international research that has found indigenous communities would be harder hit by an outbreak.
The Te Puni Kokiri video followed an hour-long meeting between Adams and Māori medic Dr Mataroria Lyndon of Northland in which she quizzed him about the Covid-19 vaccine.
It was followed by two videos to her CWK channel on Facebook - the first a skit in which a whānau member blocked an unvaccinated relative's access to a grandmother; the other a 42-minute post in which Adams explained why she had chosen to be vaccinated.
A Facebook post by social media influencer Nicola Adams was linked by health authorities to the nation-wide drop in childhood vaccination among Maori. Photo / Supplied
She told her half-million followers everyone had the right to choose. "For me, it's a moral obligation," she said, talking of how strangers young and old would approach her for hugs and selfies.
"I'm getting it to protect not only me but your fullahs' whānau who come up to me for hugs."
The position was in contrast to emails among health authorities over 11 months that linked an hour-long video by Adams in May last year to Māori childhood immunisation rates falling to as low as 52 per cent.
Documents released through the Official Information Act show the link was made in an Auckland District Health Board briefing from June last year.
As general child immunisation rates among Māori fell, workers were told of "a live video by social media influencer Nicola Adams" that may give "some insight on why some parents are declining immunisation".
Comedian and television personality Pio Terei with Maori Television co-star Nicola Adams, a Facebook influencer with almost 500,000 followers. Photo / Supplied
The briefing detailed Adams' social media influence through her Facebook page "Cooked Whanau Korero with Nix".
"Nicola is Maori and has 215,2929 Facebook followers."
The number has since increased to 489,088 followers. "In her live video she talks about her 16-month old baby who tragically passed away at home two weeks after having his 15-month immunisation.
"Nicola expressed strongly her belief that the malpractice of nurses at the two Australian medical centres contributed to her son's death."
The briefing also said Covid-19 was expected to have had an impact, with families reluctant to go to GPs during lockdown or to have immunisation service workers inside their bubbles.
In July, immunisation staff at Waitematā said its child-health network had alerted it to the video. The briefing update to staff said: "We believe this video will be having an impact on Māori coverage nationally."
At the end of July last year, Waitemata health board contacted senior health managers in the Bay of Plenty alerting them to the Facebook post. They were told the video "is likely to impact Māori immunisation coverage".
"I understand she lives in your part of the country so thought I would flag it to you."
Later that year, Waitematā health board alerted the Ministry of Health the video was believed to be having a national impact on immunisation rates. The ministry was told child-health providers "are aware of this video and are having encouraging conversations with families".
In May this year, Waitemata health board's lead immunisation worker emailed the Ministry of Health top official on child and youth health, Dr Tim Jelleyman, about the video.
The email said the video was "likely to impact Māori immunisation coverage", and detailed Adams' Facebook reach, viewer numbers for the video - 1.8m - and discussed the death of Adams' son.
Adams, from Ahipara in Northland, lost her son Alaska in 2013 while living in Australia. In the years that followed, she developed a methamphetamine addiction while losing her husband and access to their two other children when he returned to New Zealand.
Prostitution and prison followed before Adams returned to New Zealand. She charted her recovery through a Facebook page.
The success of the page, and her work as a motivational speaker, led to a bond with comedian and television personality Pio Terei, who had also lost a child. The pair now anchor a talk show on Māori Television called Terei Tonight.
The Herald sought comment from Adams throughout last week but was told by a representative she was producing a series on domestic violence and was unable to make time.
Facebook star Nicola Adams with her son Alaska, who died aged 16 months. Photo / Supplied
In the May 2020 video, Adams gives a detailed account of the events leading to Alaska's unexplained death, including taking her children to health clinics in Australia for regular child vaccinations. The video was largely focused on the addiction that followed his death, her grief and how she dealt with it.
An Auckland health board spokeswoman said social media posts about vaccines had "been with us for years now". "This is simply one example that we were letting our networks know about. We are in no way suggesting any one individual or group is responsible."
The spokeswoman said the video was highlighted "for general information sharing reasons when we were looking at the possible contributors to Māori vaccination rates".
"We have the deepest sympathies for Nix and her whānau for their experience and the loss of baby Alaska."
The Herald asked why Adams' video was the only one highlighted by health workers. No response was provided.
A spokeswoman for Te Puni Kokiri, which was unaware of the controversy around Adams' post, said the video in which she featured was one of a series encouraging Covid-19 vaccination among Māori.
The agency had contracted Te Amokura Productions to produce content for the campaign, which was currently being rolled out.
