Rotorua Multicultural Council is happy to be able to invite people within the community to a Migrant Vaccination Day.
It is being held this Sunday at the Rotorua Library, and has been funded by the Ministry for Ethnic Communities.
Rotorua Multicultural Council president Margriet Theron says the Ministry for Ethnic Communities had sent out information about its Ethnic Communities Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake Fund, set up in partnership with the Ministry of Health.
It provides funding for activities that directly support vaccination uptake by ethnic communities.
"This helps to remove barriers to vaccination and makes it easier for ethnic communities to help to keep people safe.
"After talking to the Rotorua Library (Joanne Dillon), Lakes District Health Board (Para Matenga), and Yumiko and Leidy of the Rotorua Multicultural Council, I applied for $10,600 and was delighted the hear four days later that the full amount had been approved."
The full amount was approved for the multicultural council to organise two Migrant Vaccination Days, and it's the first one taking place this weekend.
She says the Rotorua Multicultural Council is making 20 short videos in which migrant healthcare professionals working in Rotorua speak in their own languages to their communities about the importance of vaccinations.
"These videos have been well-received and they will be shown to a bigger audience on Sunday, 21 November 2021 in the Rotorua Library."
At the event there will also be information brochures in migrant languages provided by Lakes District Health Board.
Flags from many countries will decorate the ground floor of the library, and members of various ethnic communities will be there to support those getting vaccinated.
Laura Marshall, director of Te Aka Mauri (left), and Rotorua Multicultural Council president Margriet Theron talk Migrant Vaccination Days outside Rotorua Library. Photo / Andrew Warner
"Migrants as a group are younger and they therefore became eligible for vaccinations later than Kiwis in general."
She says the event is open to anybody - you do not have to be a migrant to get vaccinated or to support a member of your whānau to receive their vaccination.
Margriet says with the funding they are able to make Sunday's Vaccination Day into a special event.
"Each person who gets vaccinated and their already vaccinated supporter will be able to choose a $15 gift voucher from a migrant-owned business: And Rice, Café de Paris Café, Chimney, Delhi Hut, Don Kebab, El Mexicano Zapata, Fruit Monster, Sari Sari, Sichuan Style, and more.
"We are pleased that we are able to support these local businesses who have gone through a tough time with Covid.
"On Sunday, for each person being vaccinated, there will also be a voucher for one of their supporters. We hope this will encourage those who have already been vaccinated to bring the teenagers over 12 years and the elderly in their community to the library."
They also have funding to transport people to the library, provided by Personal Guide Pete, she says.
"Covid is now in Rotorua. We want our members and the rest of the community to be protected against the severe consequences that some suffer when they get Covid.
"We have young children who cannot be vaccinated to be protected.
"We want to do what we can to enable New Zealand's borders to be opened so, that we can once again welcome our families and overseas tourists, and so that we can go and visit our friends and family overseas."
She says there is an important focus on young people, and the Rotorua Multicultural Council has two youth members on its executive committee - Yani du Plessis and Miguel Manaig.
"We will work with them to spread the word to Rotorua's young people."
The details - What: Migrant Vaccination Day - When: Sunday, November 21, 12pm to 4pm - Where: Rotorua Library
