Te Urewera has been closed to visitors since the move to Covid-19 alert level 4 in August, but unlike Auckland, it won't be opening back up to the public until late January.
The region is home to Tūhoe and includes some of Aotearoa's most remote, and most vulnerable communities.
Reliable vaccine uptake data is scarce, but tribal leaders estimate that just 40 per cent of the eligible Te Urewera population have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.
Part of the problem is that the communities aren't hooked into the 1pm briefings, instead relying on leaders to explain Covid-19 updates, Te Urewera Board and Tūhoe Tribal Authority chairman Tāmati Kruger told Morning Report.