Today Māori were 23 of 65 new cases (35%). Since the surge in Māori cases that began on September 29, Māori have comprised the highest number of new cases over 12 consecutive days.
On September 1, Māori were just 5% of all Delta cases; now we make up:
- 45% of new cases since Auckland went to Alert Level 3.
- 44% of all active cases in MIQ.
- 26% of cases in the Delta outbreak .
- 24% of those who have been hospitalised.
Māori Vaccination
The numbers in the vaccination table below differ from those from the Ministry of Health. The ministry uses the Health User Service Index but this doesn’t include the 204,000 people—many of them Māori and Pasifika—who didn’t use a health service in the previous year. For example, the last annual health survey showed that 20% of Māori adults couldn’t afford to see a doctor.
- 36% of Māori are fully vaccinated.
- Only 21% have received their first dose.
- A total of 57% of Māori have partial or full vaccine protection which makes up 72% of the national overall rate of vaccination.
- But more than 50% of those aged 12-34 years are unvaccinated.
- Many are at risk from long Covid-19 complications, the worst of which affect kidney and liver function, the lungs, heart and brain.
The following table presents Māori vaccinations by District Health Board ranked by those who have the highest percentage of first dose Māori.
This Ministry data-based website provides figures for towns and cities but have the limitations of the HSU index.
Our Most Vulnerable Time
At this time Māori are at our most vulnerable. The young, poor, sick, and disabled are most at risk. They distrust government and rightly so. They are the intergenerational victims of progressive and systemic racism within education, welfare, employment, housing, justice and health.
Delta is not a political football. Opposition for the sake of opposition is a pathway of empty rhetoric upon which we all lose. We need across-party political leadership to make decisions that protect life.
We have the largest and most capable Māori members of parliament in history. They need to stand and lead in areas that include daily briefings from the ministry of health. We need people who look like us and speak our language whether in English or te reo Māori to tell our Covid story.
The anti-vaccination freedom movement exploits the fears and suspicions of those who are ethnically destitute and abandoned.
The freedom to choose vaccination may be a human right. The freedom to place others at risk is not.
Thousands of Maori didn’t have the luxury of a vaccine in previous centuries. We do. Get vaccinated to protect our whakapapa. Be a good ancestor for future generations.
Support super-vaccination Saturday.
Dr Rawiri Taonui.