Target neglects vulnerable

The Auckland region is on the cusp of 90 per cent of eligible residents having received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

But reaching 90 per cent will not provide equal protection to all. As of Thursday, 87 per cent of people aged 12 and over in Auckland had received their first dose. But that figure was 76.5 per cent for Pasifika in Auckland, and 68 per cent of Ma¯ ori.

Ma¯ ori and Pasifika are at greater risk of severe illness and death if they catch Covid-19, and have been disproportionately impacted by the Delta community outbreak, making up 25.4 and 53.6 per cent of cases respectively.

The Ministry of Health relies on Health Service User (HSU) data, known to be an undercount overall and an underestimation of minority groups, such as Ma¯ ori and Pasifika. That means the true proportion of Ma¯ ori and Pasifika first dose coverage is likely lower than the statistics suggest.

When New Zealand went into alert level 4 on August 18, Ma¯ ori and Pasifika first-dose rates were 25.17 per cent and 33.65 per cent, respectively, but have since more than doubled. They are still lowest among Ma¯ori nationally, but that’s starting to change.

First dose rates for other ethnicities are continuing at a steady rate or beginning to slow down, but rates among Ma¯ ori have steepened – with 4.3 per cent of Ma¯ori receiving a first dose last week.

Public health expert and University of Auckland Associate Professor Collin Tukuitonga said the gap in vaccination rates was ‘‘clearly an issue’’.

If Auckland hits 90 per cent vaccination coverage overall, but that figure represented fewer than three-quarters of Ma¯ ori and Pasifika, ‘‘clearly the risks will remain for those groups’’.

Covid-19 would continue to persist in these communities because a high proportion are unvaccinated, he said.

Tukuitonga said it was imperative we get all groups to 90 per cent, not just the population as a whole. More effort is needed to get rates up in those communities before further steps to reduce restrictions are taken, he said.

Tukuitonga was critical the Government had decided to relax restrictions in Auckland with low vaccination rates for Ma¯ori and Pasifika, saying: ‘‘This is risky.’’ He believed we should have ‘‘kept our nerve’’ with our elimination strategy until vaccination rates for those groups had ‘‘beefed up’’. He said it was positive Ma¯ ori and Pasifika providers had swung into action with new ideas and options for their communities, which was reflected in the number of people getting vaccinated.

Ensuring high vaccination rates for Ma¯ ori and Pasifika ‘‘is probably the most important thing we can do for ourselves as a whole’’.

The conversation has largely centred around hitting 90 per cent for first doses, but this week, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said we needed to see both first and second dose numbers over 90 per cent ‘‘to really make a difference to cases’’.

Nationally, 80.2 per cent of eligible Kiwis have had a first dose, and 57.2 per cent are fully vaccinated. In Auckland, 66 per cent are fully vaccinated.

University of Otago associate dean (Pacific) and biomedical scientist Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu said a ‘‘high degree of risk’’ remained for all in Aotearoa, but especially our most vulnerable communities, including Ma¯ ori and Pacific peoples.

Ensuring high vaccination rates for Ma¯ori and Pasifika ‘‘is probably the most important thing we can do for ourselves as a whole’’. Professor Collin Tukuitonga