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National | Māori Covid-19 Cases

Only a matter of time before Covid-19 becomes a Māori sickness

Fear is being seen among marae and Whānau Ora providers in South Auckland that Covid cases in Auckland are getting out of control. They say with the high percentage of cases in Auckland now being Māori, the potential impacts among Māori communities could be catastrophic.

It comes as Dr Rāwiri Taonui warns Māori numbers are set to rise over the next couple of days.

On Tuesday, 45 of the 94 cases were Māori, and Dr Taonui made a stunning claim, saying data suggests Māori cases could reach between 2,000 to 5,000 and 100 to 200 deaths.

According to John Tamihere, the numbers speak for themselves, and Māori on the ground aren't surprised. He says Whānau Ora should have been utilised much earlier to get Māori vaccination numbers up.

"We knew on modelling from September that we were heading into this massive problem. But here's the thing, so do all the other so-called government experts.

"The Whānau Ora network has vaccinated 500,000 people. If we were able to deploy that to Māori, we would be 90% now."

Little blames DHBs

Manurewa Marae chief executive Tasha Kemp says while the government has started to listen to Māori providers about Māori getting vaccinated, they have waited a long time to be acknowledged

"Māori providers, Whānau Ora, had been giving solutions since the beginning of lockdown last year. Mobile vaccinations, we've been saying, are the way to go to get to our people"

Now she says something new is needed. "The government now needs to do something more drastic. They need more cross-party leadership, and it can't just be about one political party anymore"

But Health Minister Andrew Little has hit out at some DHBs for not doing enough to up Māori vaccination rates.

Little sat down with Newsroom on Tuesday afternoon and asked if Māori had been failed by some DHBs’ vaccination rollout.

“When you look at Tairāwhiti, when you look at the slow uptake within Taranaki, it’s hard to avoid that conclusion,’’ Little said.

“I’m not pointing the finger at any particular individual people, but the reality is the poor vaccination performance reflects – it seems to me – a poor, or lack of, relationship between the DHB and relevant local Māori health organisations.’’