Te Pāti Māori are advising Māori and Iwi providers to prioritise Māori and Pasifika by allowing them to have the right to walk in on demand to receive their vaccinations in Tāmaki. They are also demanding for a significant increase of vaccines into Tāmaki Makaurau, including the resource to go with it.

“This virus is entering our country via Tāmaki Makaurau and it is being carried to the rest of our regions from there. If we want to protect our people, we need to begin there. Aotearoa will never be safe until Tāmaki is safe.” says Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi.

“We want a significant increase of vaccines into the Tāmaki region and we are also advising all Māori and Iwi vaccination providers in Tāmaki to prioritise our Māori and Pasifika whānau by allowing them to walk-in on demand.

“It’s no secret that Māori and PI are the most vulnerable communities and they make up the largest concentration of our people living in Tāmaki so we need to put a pou in the ground and put our people at the front of the queue.

“The Government clearly is not focussed on delivering a Māori response because they are not fronting with adequate resource and they most definitely are not answering our questions. The only avenue we have is to take the reins and ensure every single barrier in the way of our people getting vaccinated is taken away. Right now that looks like prioritising Māori in Tāmaki” says Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“Only 2.6% of the COVID Vaccination budget went to Māori. Not only are they standing up a Māori response, but they are also vaccinating other ethnicities at a higher rate than Māori. And so the resource targeted to Māori is being stretched far too thinly and it’s not hitting our Māori communities.”

“Our Māori providers in Tāmaki Makaurau and across the motu are going over and above what is required because we have more to lose. Prioritising the vaccination of Tāmaki Makaurau will minimise risk to the rest of the country and go a long way to protecting our whakapapa. If we are going to win the war on COVID, we need to get behind our people in Tāmaki Makaurau” says Ngarewa-Packer.

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