Covid 19: Iwi collective chipping away at critical first vaccinations

One of the Ranga Tupua iwi collective's mobile clinics at Kai Iwi, a rural community west of Whanganui, on Saturday. Photo / Moana Ellis

Māori health providers are reporting low daily numbers of critical first vaccinations as they work to boost protection for Māori against Covid-19.

Iwi collective Te Ranga Tupua has four mobile teams working to lift Māori vaccination rates in Whanganui, South Taranaki, Rangitīkei and the Waimarino. It says the teams are chipping away slowly but steadily at high numbers of unvaccinated Māori.

Te Ranga Tupua rapid response co-lead Elijah Pue says each of the four teams is vaccinating around 40 people a day.

"Probably in the last month we've administered 1500 vaccinations across four teams, two teams in Whanganui, one in Rangitīkei and one in the Waimarino. The majority of those have been boosters and seconds. We are seeing a reduction in firsts. For example, in Raetihi we're probably vaccinating circa 40 people a day and we might be getting three or four first vaccinations."

In the Whanganui District Health Board area, 85 per cent of Māori have had one dose of the vaccine but fewer than 700 first jabs will take the number to 90 per cent. Just over 1400 shots are needed to reach 90 per cent fully vaccinated. The figures do not include tamariki aged 5 to 11, who became eligible on Monday for vaccination.

"Some people have been saying those who wanted to get vaccinated will have been vaccinated by now, but we're continuing to have a presence in those areas which still have low vaccination numbers," Pue said.

The Ministry of Health says more than 14,000 vaccinations were delivered to under 12s nationwide on Monday, and in the Whanganui DHB area more than half of nearly 23,000 people eligible for a booster have received their booster shot.