Prioritise tamariki

of the jab currently being given to New Zealanders aged 12 and older.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said Medsafe would be ready to check over an application once the information was delivered.

‘‘We’re expecting all the information through from Pfizer in the first two weeks of November.’’

But plans following its approval need to be organised now, and Mā ori leaders must be at the table preparing the roll-out, NZ Māori Council māngai, or member, Tā kuta Ferris said.

More than 17 per cent of cases reported in the Delta outbreak have been children aged 11 and under, according to Ministry of Health statistics. They are sitting ducks, Ferris said.

With 25.5 per cent of the Mā ori population under 12, it was vital they were vaccinated before returning to school, with a focus on putting Mā ori first to achieve equity, Ferris said. ‘‘We have half of the new cases of Covid.’’

The exponential rise in youth cases in the United Kingdom is a map for how Delta will take over Aotearoa, he said.

Tamariki will mix in kura, he said. The virus will then get carried back to whā nau at home and spread throughout communities and, if Mā ori do not have equal vaccination rates to the general population, it will be Mā ori who suffer the fallout of the virus, Ferris said.

‘‘We’re really down to the wire. The best thing we can do as a people is mobilise our families into action.’’

Ferris said the $120 million that had been distributed to boost Mā ori vaccinations needed to be put with Māori providers who could work whā nau by whā nau to ease their vaccine concerns.

‘‘We’re really down to the wire.’’

Tā kuta Ferris

NZ Māori Council māngai