Seven mobile clinics, social media campaigns and support from prominent sportspeople are among the strategies Ngāti Hine Health Trust is using to boost immunisation rates, after Te Whatu Ora confirmed one new case in Te Tai Tokerau on Monday morning, bringing the regional total to 10 and the national total to 11.
In a statement, Te Whatu Ora said the new Northland case was in quarantine during their infectious period, so there are no new locations of interest.
People who have recently been in Northland, Queenstown or Cromwell are urged to stay up to date with current locations of interest and monitor for measles symptoms.
While the Northland outbreak and the Queenstown case are unrelated, both have links to recent travel to countries experiencing outbreaks. Health New Zealand has warned of an escalating global risk of measles, including in places New Zealanders travel to frequently, such as Australia, Asia and North America.
The Ngāti Hine Health Trust CE Tamati Shepherd Wipiti says the immunisation drive is targeting groups with low vaccination rates, with a particular focus on mothers with babies.
Professional boxer and Northlander Lani Daniels is also lending her support to raise awareness.
“We have a target area of our mums and bubs, we’re low. We’re also low in 19–25 year olds. Really important whānau, if you were born after 1969, you still need two jabs. You are not immune, and that thing that happened at school, that doesn’t cover you.”
“If you go back over the immunisation data over the last ten years, we’ve historically been low. And what’s going on there is an interplay between demographics, our rurality and basic access to Health care.” Shepherd-Wipiiti said.
Misinformation ‘worse than Covid’
Shepherd-Wipiiti said the biggest challenge is uncertainty about whether there is community spread.
“We’re still on the search because we’re worried that we may have undetected transmission in the community.”
He added that misinformation and disinformation continue to impact whānau.
“We are battling a lot of disinformation, actually, and I was the person out of the role with Covid, driving our Māori vaccinations. I’m back on the road now and in the kōrero I’ve had, because I’ve been literally door-knocking and talking to whānau, actually, it’s worse than Covid.
“It takes a lot to unpack that and actually re-educate our whānau with the right information.”,
