Non-Māori biggest obstacle to Northland reaching 90% vax target, figures show

A big effort by Māori health providers, here giving a jab to James Ashby of Kaikohe - has led to a dramatic lift in Māori vaccination rates. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Non-Māori now significantly outnumber Māori among Northlanders who have not yet been vaccinated.

Northland's high Māori population is often cited as one of the reasons for the region's relatively low vaccine uptake — and the fact the region will soon be the only one stuck in the red traffic light setting — but some simple number-crunching by the Advocate shows Māori make up a minority of the region's unvaxxed.

Ministry of Health figures show 9034 eligible Māori in Northland had not received a first dose as of December 16.

The number of non-Māori who hadn't yet received their first jab, however, was significantly higher at 10,660.

While the ministry does not provide a specific figure for Pākehā, Northland's other ethnic groups have above-average vaccination rates so the vast majority of those 10,660 can safely be assumed to be of European descent.

Only 136 Pasifika people in Northland have not yet had a jab, for example. Northland's Indian community, the region's next biggest ethnic group, hit the 90 per cent fully vaxxed target early this month.

Those findings are backed up by childhood vaccination data which show non-Māori are more likely than Māori to refuse to have their infants vaccinated against illnesses such as whooping cough, rubella and measles.

Whangārei-based MP Shane Reti, National's health spokesman, said across Northland 11 per cent of children had not received childhood vaccinations and had been taken off the National Immunisation Register at their parents' request.

The figure for non-Māori children, however, was 15 per cent — suggesting opposition to all vaccines is strongest among Pākehā.

Any parents who refused the standard vaccinations for their children were almost certain to reject Covid-19 jabs for themselves, Reti said.

However, Ministry of Health data does show one age group where vaccination rates are significantly lower for Māori.

Rangatahi Māori aged 20-34 in Northland have a first-jab rate of 74 per cent, with just 57 per cent fully vaxxed.

That compares to 86 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively for non-Māori in the same age group.

Across most age groups, Pasifika peoples have higher vax rates than Māori and non-Māori, especially among youth where they are far ahead of the rest of the Northland population.