Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare is standing by his firm stance on challenging Māori to get vaccinated despite funding being given to Māori health providers this week to help them cope with the “pressure”.
Henare spoke to Breakfast on Thursday morning after he and Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson announced Tuesday $38 million in government funding would be used to support the ongoing work responding to Covid-19.
It would also continue to increase the rates of Māori vaccination.
However, the funding came after Henare told 1News earlier this month Māori needed to take some onus in the Covid-19 response.
“The buck ultimately stops with our people,” Henare told 1News at the time.
“Our people need to come forward to make sure that they can make themselves available for the vaccine.”
Henare was challenged on whether he stood by that hardline stance after saying in his statement on Tuesday that recent engagement with the Māori health and disability sector saw providers show signs of struggle in supporting the Covid-19 response within their current resources.
However, Henare said the pressure was coming from the general public – not a Māori-specific turnout at healthcare centres.
“Over 70,000 vaccinations have been delivered in Tāmaki Makaurau aimed at West Auckland,” Henare said.
“Sadly, however, only a small percentage – in fact, I can tell you only 1400 Māori – have come forward for the vaccine over the past six days.”
Henare said the funding was created as Māori healthcare providers were assisting in vaccinating the general public, not just tangata whenua, so extra resources will continue that work while the Government looks at other ways to spur higher Māori vaccination rates.
“The infrastructure is providing for the whole system and what we’re finding is Māori are still slow to come in,” he said.
“So if you have 70,000 vaccines being provided by Te Whānau o Waipareira yet over the last six days only 1400 Māori have come forward, it shows that the system is working but it isn’t necessarily targeted at Māori.
“So yes, they are feeling the pressure of delivering the vaccine to anyone and everyone but we’ve got the challenge to bring the Māori community forward.”
Henare didn’t clarify the Government’s plans to bring the Māori community forward but said they would ensure they look after those who are helping distribute it in such stressful environments.
“When I’ve spoken to Māori health providers, they’ve said it’s not necessarily about more money – sometimes it’s just simply fatigue,” he said.
“Some of Māori health providers have been delivering the vaccine since the start of the rollout at the beginning of the year and I know some of them have actually closed their doors for a day just to give their teams a rest.
“So we just want the resource to offer a bit of relief and release the pressure valve a bit.”
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